Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars. XV. Discovery of a Connection between the Monoceros Ring and the Triangulum-Andromeda Overdensity? [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05384

Thanks to modern sky surveys, over twenty stellar streams and overdensity structures have been discovered in the halo of the Milky Way. In this paper, we present an analysis of spectroscopic observations of individual stars from one such structure, “A13”, first identified as an overdensity using the M giant catalog from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey. Our spectroscopic observations show that A13 has a velocity dispersion of $\lesssim$ 40 $\mathrm{km~s^{-1}}$, implying that it is a genuine coherent structure rather than a chance super-position of random halo stars. From its position on the sky, distance ($\sim$15 kpc heliocentric), and kinematic properties, A13 is likely to be an extension of another low Galactic latitude substructure — the Galactic Anticenter Stellar Structure (also known as the Monoceros Ring) — towards smaller Galactic longitude and farther distance. Furthermore, the kinematics of A13 also connect it with another structure in the southern Galactic hemisphere — the Triangulum-Andromeda overdensity. We discuss these three connected structures within a previously proposed scenario that one or all of these features originate from the disk of the Milky Way.

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T. Li, A. Sheffield, K. Johnston, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
4/50

Comments: 10 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to AAS Journal

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DGSAT: Dwarf Galaxy Survey with Amateur Telescopes II. A catalogue of isolated nearby edge-on disk galaxies and the discovery of new low surface brightness systems [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05356

The connection between the bulge mass or bulge luminosity in disk galaxies and the number, spatial and phase space distribution of associated dwarf galaxies is a discriminator between cosmological simulations related to galaxy formation in cold dark matter and generalized gravity models. Here, a nearby sample of isolated Milky Way class edge-on galaxies is introduced, to facilitate observational campaigns to detect the associated families of dwarf galaxies at low surface brightness. Three galaxy pairs with at least one of the targets being edge-on are also introduced. About 60% of the catalogued isolated galaxies contain bulges of different size, while the remaining objects appear to be bulge-less. Deep images of NGC 3669 (small bulge, with NGC 3625 at the edge of the image) and NGC 7814 (prominent bulge), obtained with a 0.4-m aperture, are also presented, resulting in the discovery of two new dwarf galaxy candidates, NGC3669-DGSAT-3 and NGC7814-DGSAT-7. Eleven additional low surface brightness galaxies are identified, previously notified with low quality measurement flags in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Integrated magnitudes, surface brightnesses, effective radii, Sersic indices, axis ratios, and projected distances to their putative major hosts are displayed. At least one of the galaxies, NGC3625-DGSAT-4, belongs with a surface brightness of approximately 26 mag per arcsec^2 and effective radius >1.5 kpc to the class of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). NGC3669-DGSAT-3, the galaxy with lowest surface brightness in our sample, may also be an UDG.

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C. Henkel, B. Javanmardi, D. Martinez-Delgado, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
17/50

Comments: 12 pages including 6 figures, 4 tables, a brief appendix, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

Falling outer rotation curves of star-forming galaxies at 0.6 < z < 2.6 probed with KMOS^3D and SINS/ZC-SINF [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05491

We exploit the deep resolved Halpha kinematic data from the KMOS^3D and SINS/zC-SINF surveys to examine the largely unexplored outer disk kinematics of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) out to the peak of cosmic star formation. Our sample contains 101 SFGs representative of the more massive (9.3 < log(M*/Msun) < 11.5) main sequence population at 0.6<z<2.6. Through a novel stacking approach we are able to constrain a representative rotation curve extending out to ~4 effective radii. This average rotation curve exhibits a significant drop in rotation velocity beyond the turnover, with a slope of Delta(V)/Delta(R) = $-0.26^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ in units of normalized coordinates V/V_max and R/R_turn. This result confirms that the fall-off seen previously in some individual galaxies is a common feature of our sample of high-z disks. We show that this outer fall-off strikingly deviates from the flat or mildly rising rotation curves of local spiral galaxies of similar masses. We furthermore compare our data with models including baryons and dark matter demonstrating that the falling stacked rotation curve can be explained by a high mass fraction of baryons relative to the total dark matter halo (m_d>~0.05) in combination with a sizeable level of pressure support in the outer disk. These findings are in agreement with recent studies demonstrating that star-forming disks at high redshift are strongly baryon dominated within the disk scale, and furthermore suggest that pressure gradients caused by large turbulent gas motions are present even in their outer disks. We demonstrate that these results are largely independent of our model assumptions such as the presence of a central stellar bulge, the effect of adiabatic contraction at fixed m_d, and variations in the concentration parameter.

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P. Lang, N. Schreiber, R. Genzel, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
24/50

Comments: Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal

Magnetic Ribbons: A Minimum Hypothesis Model for Filaments [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05632

We develop a magnetic ribbon model for molecular cloud filaments. These result from turbulent compression in a molecular cloud in which the background magnetic field sets a preferred direction. We use our model to calculate a synthetic observed relation between apparent width in projection versus observed column density. The relationship is relatively flat, in rough agreement with the observations, and unlike the simple expectation based on a Jeans length argument.

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S. Auddy, S. Basu and T. Kudoh
Fri, 17 Mar 17
25/50

Comments: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in proceedings of SFDE conference, eds. D. Johnstone, T. Hoang, F. Nakamura, Q. Nguyen Luong, and J. Tran Tranh Van

NGC 3105: A Young Cluster in the Outer Galaxy [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05728

Images and spectra of the open cluster NGC 3105 have been obtained with GMOS on Gemini South. The (i’, g’-i’) color-magnitude diagram (CMD) constructed from these data extends from the brightest cluster members to g’~23. This is 4 – 5 mag fainter than previous CMDs at visible wavelengths and samples cluster members with sub-solar masses. Assuming a half-solar metallicity, comparisons with isochrones yield a distance of 6.6+/-0.3 kpc. An age of at least 32 Myr is found based on the photometric properties of the brightest stars, coupled with the apparent absence of pre-main sequence stars in the lower regions of the CMD. The luminosity function of stars between 50 and 70 arcsec from the cluster center is consistent with a Chabrier lognormal mass function. However, at radii smaller than 50 arcsec there is a higher specific frequency of the most massive main sequence stars than at larger radii. Photometry obtained from archival SPITZER images reveals that some of the brightest stars near NGC 3105 have excess infrared emission, presumably from warm dust envelopes. Halpha emission is detected in a few early-type stars in and around the cluster, building upon previous spectroscopic observations that found Be stars near NGC 3105. The equivalent width of the NaD lines in the spectra of early type stars is consistent with the reddening found from comparisons with isochrones. Stars with i’~18.5 that fall near the cluster main sequence have a spectral-type A5V, and a distance modulus that is consistent with that obtained by comparing isochrones with the CMD is found assuming solar neighborhood intrinsic brightnesses for these stars.

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T. Davidge
Fri, 17 Mar 17
26/50

Comments: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal

The HI content of isolated ultra-diffuse galaxies: a sign of multiple formation mechanisms? [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05610

We report on the results of radio observations in the 21cm emission line of atomic hydrogen (HI) of four relatively isolated ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs): DGSAT I, R-127-1, M-161-1, and SECCO-dI-2. Our Effelsberg observations resulted in non-detections for the first three UDGS, and a clear detection for the last. DGSAT I, R-127-1, and M-161-1 are quiescent galaxies with gas fractions that are much lower than those of typical field galaxies of the same stellar mass. On the other hand, SECCO-dI-2 is a star forming gas-rich dwarf, similar to two other field UDGs that have literature HI data: SECCO-dI-1 and UGC 2162. This group of three gas-rich UDGs have stellar and gaseous properties that are compatible with a recently proposed theoretical mechanism for the formation of UDGs, based on feedback-driven outflows. In contrast, the physical characteristics of R-127-1 and M-161-1 are puzzling, given their isolated nature. We interpret this dichotomy in the gaseous properties of field UDGs as a sign of the existence of multiple mechanisms for their formation, with the formation of the quiescent gas-poor UDGs remaining a mystery.

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E. Papastergis, E. Adams and A. Romanowsky
Fri, 17 Mar 17
27/50

Comments: Submitted to A&A letters. 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

A probabilistic approach to the N-body problem [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05313

This work introduces a new interpretation of the gravitational N-body problem, based on the one-point probability density {\Psi} of finding a particle at a given loca- tion of phase space (x, v) at time t and the associated expected phase-space $\bar{f}$(x, v, t) = M {\Psi}(x, v, t), where M is the total mass of the system. At variance with the traditional paradigm, we consider that the problem is inherently stochastic, and therefore $\bar{f}$ corresponds to a weighted average over all possible random realisations of the initial conditions. In practice, we run several numerical experiments in one dimension where $\bar{f}$(x, v, t), and thus {\Psi}(x, v, t), are estimated from the average of a finite number S of independent simulations with N particles each. The proposed approach is extremely efficient from a computational point of view, with modest CPU and memory requirements, and it provides a very competitive alternative to traditional N-body simulations when the goal is to study the average properties of N-body systems, at the cost of abandoning the notion of well-defined trajectories for each individual particle.

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M. Romero and Y. Ascasibar
Fri, 17 Mar 17
28/50

Comments: 12 pages, 5 figures

A search for Ly-alpha emitters around a concentrated-region of strong Ly-alpha absorbers at z=2.3 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05756

In order to investigate the physical relationship between strong Ly-alpha absorbers (logN_HI>20.0 cm^-2) such as damped Ly-alpha absorption systems (DLAs) and young star-forming galaxies at high redshift, we have conducted narrow-band observations of Ly-alpha emitters (LAEs) in a concentrated region of strong Ly-alpha absorbers at z= 2.3, the J1230+34 field. Using a catalog of Ly-alpha absorbers with logN_HI>20.0 cm^-2 based on the baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey (BOSS), we found 6 fields where 3 or more absorbers are concentrated within a (50 Mpc)^3 cubic box in the comoving scale. Among them, we focus on the J1230+34 field, where 2 DLAs and 2 sub-DLAs present. Our narrow-band imaging observations with Subaru/Suprime-Cam using a custom-made filter, NB400 (lambda_c=4003 A and FWHM=92 A) yield a sample of 149 LAEs in this field. In the large scale (~50 Mpc), we have found no differences between the obtained Ly-alpha luminosity function and those in the blank fields at similar redshifts. We also compare the frequency distribution of the Ly-alpha rest-frame equivalent width (EW_0) in the target field and other fields including both overdensity region and blank field, but find no differences. On the other hand, in the small scale (~10 Mpc), we have found a possible overdensity of LAEs around a DLA with the highest HI column density (N_HI=21.08 cm^-2) in the target field while there are no density excess around the other absorbers with a lower N_HI.

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K. Ogura, T. Nagao, M. Imanishi, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
30/50

Comments: 15 pages, 15 figures, Accepted for publication to PASJ

Effects of dust absorption on spectroscopic studies of turbulence [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05368

We study the effect of dust absorption on the recovery velocity and density spectra as well as on the anisotropies of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence using the Velocity Channel Analysis (VCA), Velocity Coordinate Spectrum (VCS) and Velocity Centroids. The dust limits volume up to an optical depth of unity. We show that in the case of the emissivity proportional to the density of emitters, the effects of random density get suppressed for strong dust absorption intensity variations arise from the velocity fluctuations only. However, for the emissivity proportional to squared density, both density and velocity fluctuations affect the observed intensities. We predict a new asymptotic regime for the spectrum of fluctuations for large scales exceeding the physical depths to unit optical depth. The spectrum gets shallower by unity in this regime. In addition, the dust absorption removes the degeneracy resulted in the universal $K^{-3}$ spectrum of intensity fluctuations of self-absorbing medium reported by Lazarian & Pogosyan. We show that the predicted result is consistent with the available HII region emission data. We find that for sub-Alfv\’enic and trans-Alfv\’enic turbulence one can get the information about both the magnetic field direction and the fundamental Alfv\’en, fast and slow modes that constitute MHD turbulence.

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D. Kandel, A. Lazarian and D. Pogosyan
Fri, 17 Mar 17
33/50

Comments: N/A

Spin alignment of stars in old open clusters [SSA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05588

Stellar clusters form by gravitational collapse of turbulent molecular clouds, with up to several thousand stars per cluster. They are thought to be the birthplace of most stars and therefore play an important role in our understanding of star formation, a fundamental problem in astrophysics. The initial conditions of the molecular cloud establish its dynamical history until the stellar cluster is born. However, the evolution of the cloud’s angular momentum during cluster formation is not well understood. Current observations have suggested that turbulence scrambles the angular momentum of the cluster-forming cloud, preventing spin alignment amongst stars within a cluster. Here we use asteroseismology to measure the inclination angles of spin axes in 48 stars from the two old open clusters NGC~6791 and NGC~6819. The stars within each cluster show strong alignment. Three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of proto-cluster formation show that at least 50 % of the initial proto-cluster kinetic energy has to be rotational in order to obtain strong stellar-spin alignment within a cluster. Our result indicates that the global angular momentum of the cluster-forming clouds was efficiently transferred to each star and that its imprint has survived after several gigayears since the clusters formed.

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E. Corsaro, Y. Lee, R. Garcia, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
34/50

Comments: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Published in Nature Astronomy

An X-ray/SDSS sample (I): multi-phase outflow incidence and dependence on AGN luminosity [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05335

Multi-phase fast, massive outflows have been postulated to play a crucial role in galaxy evolution. The aim of this work is to constrain the nature and the fraction of outflowing gas in AGNs, as well as the nuclear conditions possibly at the origin of such phenomena.
We present a large spectroscopic sample of X-ray detected SDSS AGNs at z <0.8. X-ray and optical flux ratio diagnostics are used to select the sample. Physical and kinematic characterisation are derived re-analysing optical (and X-ray) spectra.
We derive the incidence of ionised (~40%) and atomic (< 1%) outflows covering a wide range of AGN bolometric luminosity, from 10^42 to 10^46 erg/s. We also derive bolometric luminosities and X-ray bolometric corrections to test whether the presence of outflows is associated with an X-ray loudness, as suggested by our recent results obtained studying high-z QSOs.
We study the relations between the outflow velocity inferred from [O III] kinematic analysis and different AGN power tracers, such as black hole mass (M_BH), [O III] and X-ray luminosity. We show a well defined positive trend between outflow velocity and L_X, for the first time over a range of 5 order of magnitudes. Overall, we find that in the QSO-luminosity regime and at M_BH>10^8 Msun the fraction of AGNs with outflows becomes >50%. Finally, we discuss our results about X-ray bolometric corrections and outflow incidence in cold and ionised phases in the context of an evolutionary sequence allowing two distinct stages for the feedback phase: an initial stage characterized by X-ray/optical obscured AGNs in which the atomic gas is still present in the ISM and the outflow processes involve all the gas components, and a later stage associated with unobscured AGNs, which line of sight has been cleaned and the cold components have been heated or exhausted.

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M. Perna, G. Lanzuisi, M. Brusa, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
35/50

Comments: 16 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A

Dark-ages reionization and galaxy formation simulation XI: Clustering and halo masses of high redshift galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05419

We investigate the clustering properties of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at $z\sim6$ – $8$. Using the semi-analytical model {\scshape Meraxes} constructed as part of the Dark-ages Reionization And Galaxy-formation Observables from Numerical Simulation (DRAGONS) project, we predict the angular correlation function (ACF) of LBGs at $z\sim6$ – $8$. Overall, we find that the predicted ACFs are in good agreement with recent measurements at $z\sim 6$ and $z\sim 7.2$ from observations consisting of the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF), the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) and Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) field. We confirm the dependence of clustering on luminosity, with more massive dark matter haloes hosting brighter galaxies, remains valid at high redshift. The predicted galaxy bias at fixed luminosity is found to increase with redshift, in agreement with observations. We find that LBGs of magnitude $M_{{\rm AB(1600)}} < -19.4$ at $6\lesssim z \lesssim 8$ reside in dark matter haloes of mean mass $\sim 10^{11.0}$- $10^{11.5} M_{\rm \odot}$, and this dark matter halo mass does not evolve significantly during reionisation.

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J. Park, H. Kim, C. Liu, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
36/50

Comments: 14 pages, 10 figures, submitted to MNRAS

Optical Thickness, Spin Temperature, and Correction Factor for Density of the Galactic HI Gas [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05565

A method to determine the spin temperature of the local (Vlsr=0 km/s) HI gas using saturated brightness temperature of the 21-cm line in the radial-velocity degenerate regions (VDR) is presented. The spin temperatures is determined to be Ts= 146.2 +/- 16.1 K by measuring saturated brightness in the VDR toward the Galactic Center, 146.8 +/- 10.7 K by chi^2 fitting of expected brightness distribution to observation around the VDR, and 144.4 +/- 6.8 K toward the local arm. Assuming Ts=146 K, a correction factor Gamma for the HI density, defined by the ratio of the true HI density for finite optical thickness to that calculated by assuming optically thin HI, was obtained to be Gamma~1.2 (optical depth tau~0.3) in the local HI gas, ~1.8 (~1.3) toward the arm and anti-center, and as high as ~3.6 (~2.7) in the Galactic Center direction. It is suggested that the HI density and mass in the local arm could be ~2 times, and that in the inner Galaxy ~3.6 times, greater than the currently estimated values.

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Y. Sofue
Fri, 17 Mar 17
41/50

Comments: 10 pages, 13 figures, accepted for MNRAS

Accurate recovery of HI velocity dispersion from radio interferometers [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05751

Gas velocity dispersion measures the amount of disordered motions of a rotating disk. Accurate estimates of this parameter are of the utmost importance because it is directly linked to disk stability and star formation. A global measure of the gas velocity dispersion can be inferred from the width of the atomic hydrogen HI 21 cm line. We explore how several systematic effects involved in the production of HI cubes affect the estimate of HI velocity dispersion. We do so by comparing the HI velocity dispersion derived from different types of data cubes provided by The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS). We find that residual-scaled cubes best recover the HI velocity dispersion, independent of the weighting scheme used and for a large range of signal-to-noise ratio. For HI observations where the dirty beam is substantially different from a Gaussian, the velocity dispersion values are overestimated unless the cubes are cleaned close to (e.g., ~1.5 times) the noise level.

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R. Ianjamasimanana, W. Blok and G. Heald
Fri, 17 Mar 17
45/50

Comments: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, 14 pages, 12 Figures, 2 Tables

The predicted luminous satellite populations around SMC and LMC-mass galaxies – A missing satellite problem around the LMC? [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05321

Recent discovery of many dwarf satellite galaxies in the direction of the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC and LMC) provokes questions of their origins, and what they can reveal about galaxy evolution theory. Here, we predict the satellite stellar mass function of Magellanic Cloud-mass host galaxies using abundance matching and reionization models applied to the Caterpillar simulations. Specifically focusing on the volume within 50 kpc of the LMC, we predict a mean of 4-8 satellites with stellar mass $M_* > 10^4 \, \mathrm{M_\odot}$, and 3-4 satellites with $80 < M_* \leq 3000 \, \mathrm{M_\odot}$. Surprisingly, all $12$ currently known satellite candidates have stellar masses of $80 < M_* \leq 3000 \, \mathrm{M_\odot}$. Reconciling the dearth of large satellites and profusion of small satellites is challenging and may require a combination of a major modification of the $M_* – M_{\rm{halo}}$ relationship (steep, but with an abrupt flattening at $10^3 \, \mathrm{M_\odot}$), late reionization for the Local Group ($z_{\rm{reion}} \lesssim 9$ preferred), and/or strong tidal stripping. We can more robustly predict that $\sim 53\%$ of satellites within this volume were accreted together with the LMC and SMC, and $\sim 47\%$ were only ever Milky Way satellites. Observing satellites of isolated LMC-sized field galaxies is essential to placing the LMC in context, and to better constrain the $M_* – M_{\rm{halo}}$ relationship. Modeling known LMC-sized galaxies within $8$ Mpc, we predict 1-6 (2-12) satellites with $M_* > 10^5 \, \mathrm{M_\odot}$ ($M_* > 10^4 \, \mathrm{M_\odot}$) within the virial volume of each, and 1-3 (1-7) within a single $1.5^{\circ}$ diameter field of view, making their discovery likely.

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G. Dooley, A. Peter, J. Carlin, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
47/50

Comments: Submitted to MNRAS, 15 pages, 7 figures

Simulations of the Galaxy Cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301 I: Thermal Model and Shock Properties [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05682

The giant radio relic in CIZA J2242.8+5301 is likely evidence of a Mpc sized shock in a massive merging galaxy cluster. However, the exact shock properties are still not clearly determined. In particular, the Mach number derived from the integrated radio spectrum exceeds the Mach number derived from the X-ray temperature jump by a factor of two. We present here a numerical study, aiming for a model that is consistent with the majority of observations of this galaxy cluster. We first show that in the northern shock upstream X-ray temperature and radio data are consistent with each other. We then derive progenitor masses for the system using standard density profiles, X-ray properties and the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium. We find a class of models that is roughly consistent with weak lensing data, radio data and some of the X-ray data. Assuming a cool-core versus non-cool-core merger, we find a fiducial model with a total mass of $1.6 \times 10^{15}\,M_\odot$, a mass ratio of 1.76 and a Mach number that is consistent with estimates from the radio spectrum. We are not able to match X-ray derived Mach numbers, because even low mass models over-predict the X-ray derived shock speeds. We argue that deep X-ray observations of CIZA J2242.8+5301 will be able to test our model and potentially reconcile X-ray and radio derived Mach numbers in relics.

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J. Donnert, A. Beck, K. Dolag, et. al.
Fri, 17 Mar 17
48/50

Comments: 19 pages, 19 figures

Hydrodynamical models of cometary HII regions [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05379

We have modelled the evolution of cometary HII regions produced by zero-age main-sequence stars of O and B spectral types, which are driving strong winds and are born off-centre from spherically symmetric cores with power-law ($\alpha = 2$) density slopes. A model parameter grid was produced that spans stellar mass, age and core density. Exploring this parameter space we investigated limb-brightening, a feature commonly seen in cometary HII regions. We found that stars with mass $M_\star \geq 12\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ produce this feature. Our models have a cavity bounded by a contact discontinuity separating hot shocked wind and ionised ambient gas that is similar in size to the surrounding HII region. Due to early pressure confinement we did not see shocks outside of the contact discontinuity for stars with $M_\star \leq 40\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$, but the cavities were found to continue to grow. The cavity size in each model plateaus as the HII region stagnates. The spectral energy distributions of our models are similar to those from identical stars evolving in uniform density fields. The turn-over frequency is slightly lower in our power-law models due to a higher proportion of low density gas covered by the HII regions.

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H. Steggles, M. Hoare and J. Pittard
Fri, 17 Mar 17
49/50

Comments: 20 pages, 15 figures

Gaps in Globular Cluster Streams: Pal 5 and the Galactic Bar [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04627

Recent Pan-STARRS data show that the leading arm from the globular cluster Palomar 5 (Pal 5) appears shorter than the trailing arm, while simulations of Pal 5 predict similar angular extents. We demonstrate that including the spinning Galactic bar with appropriate pattern speeds in the dynamical modeling of Pal 5 can reproduce the Pan-STARRS data. As the bar sweeps by, some stream stars experience a difference in net torques near pericenter. This leads to the formation of apparent gaps along Pal 5’s tidal streams and these gaps grow due to an energy offset from the rest of the stream members. We conclude that only streams orbiting far from the Galactic center or streams on retrograde orbits (with respect to the bar) can be used to unambiguously constrain dark matter subhalo interactions. Additionally, we expect that the Pal 5 leading arm debris should re-appear south of the Pan-STARRS density truncation.

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S. Pearson, A. Price-Whelan and K. Johnston
Thu, 16 Mar 17
1/92

Comments: 5 Figures, 1 Table, submitted

An Approximate Analytic Model of a Star Cluster with Potential Escapers [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04548

In the context of a star cluster moving on a circular galactic orbit, a “potential escaper” is a cluster star that has orbital energy greater than the escape energy, and yet is confined within the Jacobi radius of the stellar system. On the other hand analytic models of stellar clusters typically have a truncation energy equal to the cluster escape energy, and therefore explicitly exclude these energetically unbound stars. Starting from the landmark analysis performed by Henon of periodic orbits of the circular Hill equations, we present a numerical exploration of the population of “non-escapers”, defined here as those stars which remain within two Jacobi radii for several galactic periods, with energy above the escape energy. We show that they can be characterised by the Jacobi integral and two further approximate integrals, which are based on perturbation theory and ideas drawn from Lidov-Kozai theory. Finally we use these results to construct an approximate analytic model that includes a phase space description of a population resembling that of potential escapers, in addition to the usual bound population.

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K. Daniel, D. Heggie and A. Varri
Thu, 16 Mar 17
5/92

Comments: 23 pages, 19 figures, 1 table

WISDOM Project – I: Black Hole Mass Measurement Using Molecular Gas Kinematics in NGC 3665 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05247

As a part of the mm-Wave Interferometric Survey of Dark Object Masses (WISDOM) project, we present an estimate of the mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the nearby fast-rotator early-type galaxy NGC 3665. We obtained Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) B and C array observations of the $^{12}$CO$(J=2-1)$ emission line with a combined angular resolution of $0″.59$. We analysed and modelled the three-dimensional molecular gas kinematics, obtaining a best-fit SMBH mass $M_{\rm BH}=5.75^{+1.49}_{-1.18} \times 10^{8}$ $M_{\odot}$, a mass-to-light ratio at $H$-band $(M/L)_{H}=1.45\pm0.04$ $(M/L)_{\odot, H}$, and other parameters describing the geometry of the molecular gas disc (statistical errors, all at $3\sigma$ confidence). We estimate the systematic uncertainties on the stellar $M/L$ to be $\approx0.2$ $(M/L)_{\odot, H}$, and on the SMBH mass to be $\approx0.4\times10^{8}$ $M_{\odot}$. The measured SMBH mass is consistent with that estimated from the latest correlations with galaxy properties. Following our older works, we also analysed and modelled the kinematics using only the major-axis position-velocity diagram, and conclude that the two methods are consistent.

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K. Onishi, S. Iguchi, T. Davis, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
9/92

Comments: Accepted to MNRAS

Star formation, supernovae, iron, and $α$: consistent cosmic and Galactic histories [HEAP]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04540

Recent versions of the observed cosmic star-formation history (SFH) have resolved an inconsistency between the SFH and the observed cosmic stellar mass density history. Here, we show that the same SFH revision scales up by a factor $\sim 2$ the delay-time distribution (DTD) of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), as determined from the observed volumetric SN Ia rate history, and thus brings it into line with other field-galaxy SN Ia DTD measurements. The revised-SFH-based DTD has a $t^{-1.1 \pm 0.1}$ form and a Hubble-time-integrated SN Ia production efficiency of $N/M_\star=1.25\pm 0.10$ SNe Ia per $1000~{\rm M_\odot}$ of formed stellar mass. Using these revised histories and updated, purely empirical, iron yields of the various SN types, we rederive the cosmic iron accumulation history. Core-collapse SNe and SNe Ia have contributed about equally to the total mass of iron in the Universe today, as deduced also for the Sun. We find the track of the average cosmic gas element in the [$\alpha$/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] abundance-ratio plane, as well as the track for gas in galaxy clusters, which have a higher DTD and have had a distinct, burst-like, SFH. Our cosmic $[\alpha$/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] track is broadly similar to the observed main locus of Galactic stars in this plane, indicating a Milky Way (MW) SFH similar in form to the cosmic one, and we find a MW SFH that makes the track closely match the stellar locus. The cluster DTD with a short-burst SFH at $z=3$ produces a track that matches well the observed `high-$\alpha$’ locus of MW stars, suggesting the halo/thick-disk population has had a galaxy-cluster-like formation history.

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D. Maoz and O. Graur
Thu, 16 Mar 17
13/92

Comments: Submitted to MNRAS, comments welcome

Integral field observations of the blue compact galaxy Haro14. Star formation and feedback in dwarf galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04672

(Abridged) Low-luminosity, gas-rich blue compact galaxies (BCG) are ideal laboratories to investigate many aspects of the star formation in galaxies. We study the morphology, stellar content, kinematics, and the nebular excitation and ionization mechanism in the BCG Haro 14 by means of integral field observations with VIMOS in the VLT. From these data we build maps in continuum and in the brighter emission lines, produce line-ratio maps, and obtain the velocity and velocity dispersion fields. We also generate the integrated spectrum of the major HII regions and young stellar clusters identified in the maps to determine reliable physical parameters and oxygen abundances. We find as follows: i) the current star formation in Haro 14 is spatially extended with the major HII regions placed along a linear structure, elongated in the north-south direction, and in a horseshoe-like curvilinear feature that extends about 760 pc eastward; the continuum emission is more concentrated and peaks close to the galaxy center; ii) two different episodes of star formation are present: the recent starburst, with ages $\leq$ 6 Myrs and the intermediate-age clusters, with ages between 10 and 30 Myrs; these stellar components rest on a several Gyr old underlying host galaxy; iii) the H$\alpha$/H$\beta$ pattern is inhomogeneous, with excess color values varying from E(B-V)=0.04 up to E(B-V)=1.09; iv) shocks play a significant role in the galaxy; and v) the velocity field displays a complicated pattern with regions of material moving toward us in the east and north galaxy areas. The morphology of Haro 14, its irregular velocity field, and the presence of shocks speak in favor of a scenario of triggered star formation. Ages of the knots are consistent with the ongoing burst being triggered by the collective action of stellar winds and supernovae originated in the central clusters.

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L. Cairos and J. Gonzalez-Perez
Thu, 16 Mar 17
14/92

Comments: 18 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

Interferometric confirmation of "water fountain" candidates [SSA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05037

Water fountain stars (WFs) are evolved objects with water masers tracing high-velocity jets (up to several hundreds of km s$^{-1}$). They could represent one of the first manifestations of collimated mass-loss in evolved objects and thus, be a key to understanding the shaping mechanisms of planetary nebulae. Only 13 objects had been confirmed so far as WFs with interferometer observations. We present new observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and archival observations with the Very Large Array of four objects that are considered to be WF candidates, mainly based on single-dish observations. We confirm IRAS 17291-2147 and IRAS 18596+0315 (OH 37.1-0.8) as bona fide members of the WF class, with high-velocity water maser emission consistent with tracing bipolar jets. We argue that IRAS 15544-5332 has been wrongly considered as a WF in previous works, since we see no evidence in our data nor in the literature that this object harbours high-velocity water maser emission. In the case of IRAS 19067+0811, we did not detect any water maser emission, so its confirmation as a WF is still pending. With the result of this work, there are 15 objects that can be considered confirmed WFs. We speculate that there is no significant physical difference between WFs and obscured post-AGB stars in general. The absence of high-velocity water maser emission in some obscured post-AGB stars could be attributed to a variability or orientation effect.

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J. Gomez, O. Suarez, J. Rizzo, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
20/92

Comments: To be published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 13 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables

MC$^2$: Multi-wavelength and dynamical analysis of the merging galaxy cluster ZwCl 0008.8+5215: An older and less massive Bullet Cluster [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04803

We analyze a rich dataset including Subaru/SuprimeCam, HST/ACS and WFC3, Keck/DEIMOS, Chandra/ACIS-I, and JVLA/C and D array for the merging galaxy cluster ZwCl 0008.8+5215. With a joint Subaru/HST weak gravitational lensing analysis, we identify two dominant subclusters and estimate the masses to be M$_{200}=\text{5.7}^{+\text{2.8}}_{-\text{1.8}}\times\text{10}^{\text{14}}\,\text{M}_{\odot}$ and 1.2$^{+\text{1.4}}_{-\text{0.6}}\times10^{14}$ M$_{\odot}$. We estimate the projected separation between the two subclusters to be 924$^{+\text{243}}_{-\text{206}}$ kpc. We perform a clustering analysis on confirmed cluster member galaxies and estimate the line of sight velocity difference between the two subclusters to be 92$\pm$164 km s$^{-\text{1}}$. We further motivate, discuss, and analyze the merger scenario through an analysis of the 42 ks of Chandra/ACIS-I and JVLA/C and D polarization data. The X-ray surface brightness profile reveals a remnant core reminiscent of the Bullet Cluster. The X-ray luminosity in the 0.5-7.0 keV band is 1.7$\pm$0.1$\times$10$^{\text{44}}$ erg s$^{-\text{1}}$ and the X-ray temperature is 4.90$\pm$0.13 keV. The radio relics are polarized up to 40$\%$. We implement a Monte Carlo dynamical analysis and estimate the merger velocity at pericenter to be 1800$^{+\text{400}}_{-\text{300}}$ km s$^{-\text{1}}$. ZwCl 0008.8+5215 is a low-mass version of the Bullet Cluster and therefore may prove useful in testing alternative models of dark matter. We do not find significant offsets between dark matter and galaxies, as the uncertainties are large with the current lensing data. Furthermore, in the east, the BCG is offset from other luminous cluster galaxies, which poses a puzzle for defining dark matter — galaxy offsets.

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N. Golovich, R. Weeren, W. Dawson, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
21/92

Comments: 22 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal on March 13, 2017

Supra-galactic Colour Patterns in Globular Cluster Systems [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04623

An analysis of globular cluster systems associated with galaxies included in the Virgo and Fornax HST Advanced Camera Surveys reveals distinct (g-z) colour modulation patterns. These features appear on composite samples of globular clusters and, most evidently, in galaxies with absolute magnitudes Mg in the range from -20.2 to -19.2. These colour modulations are also detectable on some samples of globular clusters in the central galaxies NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (and confirmed on data sets obtained with different instruments and photometric systems), as well as in other bright galaxies in these clusters. After discarding field contamination, photometric errors and statistical effects, we conclude that these supra-galactic colour patterns are real and reflect some previously unknown characteristic. These features suggest that the globular cluster formation process was not entirely stochastic but included a fraction of clusters that formed in a rather synchronized fashion over large spatial scales, and in a tentative time lapse of about 1.5 Gy at redshifts z between 2 and 4. We speculate that the putative mechanism leading to that synchronism may be associated with large scale feedback effects connected with violent star forming events and/or with super massive black holes.

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J. Forte
Thu, 16 Mar 17
25/92

Comments: 20 pages. 38 figures. 4 tables

The Bright and Dark Sides of High-Redshift starburst galaxies from {\it Herschel} and {\it Subaru} observations [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04801

We present rest-frame optical spectra from the FMOS-COSMOS survey of twelve $z \sim 1.6$ \textit{Herschel} starburst galaxies, with Star Formation Rate (SFR) elevated by $\times$8, on average, above the star-forming Main Sequence (MS). Comparing the H$\alpha$ to IR luminosity ratio and the Balmer Decrement we find that the optically-thin regions of the sources contain on average only $\sim 10$ percent of the total SFR whereas $\sim90$ percent comes from an extremely obscured component which is revealed only by far-IR observations and is optically-thick even in H$\alpha$. We measure the [NII]$_{6583}$/H$\alpha$ ratio, suggesting that the less obscured regions have a metal content similar to that of the MS population at the same stellar masses and redshifts. However, our objects appear to be metal-rich outliers from the metallicity-SFR anticorrelation observed at fixed stellar mass for the MS population. The [SII]$_{6732}$/[SII]$_{6717}$ ratio from the average spectrum indicates an electron density $n_{\rm e} \sim 1,100\ \mathrm{cm}^{-3}$, larger than what estimated for MS galaxies but only at the 1.5$\sigma$ level. Our results provide supporting evidence that high-$z$ MS outliers are the analogous of local ULIRGs, and are consistent with a major merger origin for the starburst event.

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A. Puglisi, E. Daddi, A. Renzini, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
28/92

Comments: 6 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

The X-ray variability of Seyfert 1.8/1.9 galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05250

Seyfert 1.8/1.9 are sources showing weak broad H-alpha components in their optical spectra. We aim at testing whether Seyfert 1.8/1.9 have similar properties at UV and X-ray wavelengths to Seyfert 2. We use the 15 Seyfert 1.8/1.9 in the Veron Cetty and Veron catalogue with public data available from the Chandra and/or XMM-Newton archives at different dates, with timescales between observations ranging from days to years. Our results are homogeneously compared with a previous work using the same methodology applied to a sample of Seyfert 2 (Hernandez-Garcia et al. 2015). X-ray variability is found in all 15 nuclei over the aforementioned ranges of timescales. The main variability pattern is related to intrinsic changes in the sources, which are observed in ten nuclei. Changes in the column density are also frequent, as they are observed in six nuclei, and variations at soft energies, possibly related to scattered nuclear emission, are detected in six sources. X-ray intraday variations are detected in six out of the eight studied sources. Variations at UV frequencies are detected in seven out of nine sources. A comparison between the samples of Seyfert 1.8/1.9 and 2 shows that, even if the main variability pattern is due to intrinsic changes of the sources in the two families, these nuclei exhibit different variability properties in the UV and X-ray domains. In particular, variations in the broad X-ray band on short time-scales (days/weeks), and variations in the soft X-rays and UV on long time-scales (months/years) are detected in Seyfert 1.8/1.9 but not in Seyfert 2. Overall, we suggest that optically classified Seyfert 1.8/1.9 should be kept separated from Seyfert 2 galaxies in UV/X-ray studies of the obscured AGN population because their intrinsic properties might be different.

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L. Hernandez-Garcia, J. Masegosa, O. Gonzalez-Martin, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
30/92

Comments: Accepted for publication in A&A. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1505.01166

New Evidence for the Dynamical Decay of a Multiple System in the Orion Kleinmann-Low Nebula [SSA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05159

We have measured astrometry for members of the Orion Nebula Cluster with images obtained in 2015 with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. By comparing those data to previous measurements with NICMOS on Hubble in 1998, we have discovered that a star in the Kleinmann-Low Nebula, source x from Lonsdale et al. (1982), is moving with an unusually high proper motion of 29 mas/yr, which corresponds to 55 km/s at the distance of Orion. Previous radio observations have found that three other stars in the Kleinmann-Low Nebula (BN and sources I and n) have high proper motions (5-14 mas/yr) and were near a single location ~540 years ago, and thus may have been members of a multiple system that dynamically decayed. The proper motion of source x is consistent with ejection from that same location 540 years ago, which provides strong evidence that the dynamical decay did occur and that the runaway star BN originated in the Kleinmann-Low Nebula rather than the nearby Trapezium cluster. However, our constraint on the motion of source n is significantly smaller than the most recent radio measurement, which indicates that it did not participate in the event that ejected the other three stars.

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K. Luhman, M. Robberto, J. Tan, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
34/92

Comments: Astrophysical Journal Letters, in press

Clustering of MgII absorption line systems around massive galaxies: an important constraint on feedback processes in galaxy formation [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04638

We use the latest version of the metal line absorption catalogue of Zhu & M\’enard (2013) to study the clustering of MgII absorbers around massive galaxies (~10^11.5 M_sun), quasars and radio-loud AGN with redshifts between 0.4 and 0.75. Clustering is evaluated in two dimensions, by binning absorbers both in projected radius and in velocity separation. Excess MgII is detected around massive galaxies out to R_p=20 Mpc. At projected radii less than 800 kpc, the excess extends out to velocity separations of 10,000 km/s. The extent of the high velocity tail within this radius is independent of the mean stellar age of the galaxy and whether or not it harbours an active galactic nucleus. We interpret our results using the publicly available Illustris and Millennium simulations. Models where the MgII absorbers trace the dark matter particle or subhalo distributions do not fit the data. They overpredict the clustering on small scales and do not reproduce the excess high velocity separation MgII absorbers seen within the virial radius of the halo. The Illustris simulations which include thermal, but not mechanical feedback from AGN, also do not provide an adequate fit to the properties of the cool halo gas within the virial radius. We propose that the large velocity separation MgII absorbers trace gas that has been pushed out of the dark matter halos, possibly by multiple episodes of AGN-driven mechanical feedback acting over long timescales.

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G. Kauffmann, D. Nelson, B. Menard, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
35/92

Comments: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted in MNRAS

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of BALQSO Ton 34 Reveal a Connection between the Broad Line Region and the BAL Outflow [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05043

Ton 34 recently transitioned from non-absorbing quasar into a BALQSO.Here, we report new HST-STIS observations of this quasar. Along with CIV absorption, we also detect absorption by NV+Ly alpha and possibly OVI+Ly beta. We follow the evolution of the CIV BAL, and find that, for the slower outflowing material, the absorption trough varies little (if at all) on a rest-frame timescale of 2 yr. However, we detect a strong deepening of the absorption in the gas moving at larger velocities (-20,000 – -23,000 km s-1). The data is consistent with a multistreaming flow crossing our line of sight to the source. The transverse velocity of the flow should be few thousand km s-1, similar to the rotation velocity of the BLR gas (2,600 km s-1). By simply assuming Keplerian motion, these two components must have similar locations, pointing to a common outflow forming the BLR and the BAL. We speculate that BALs, mini-BALs, and NALs, are part of a common, ubiquitous, accretion-disk outflow in AGN, but become observable depending on the viewing angle towards the flow. The absorption troughs suggest a wind covering only 20% of the emitting source, implying a maximum size of 10^-3 pc for the clouds forming the BAL/BLR medium. This is consistent with constraints of the BLR clouds from X-ray occultations. Finally, we suggest that the low excitation broad emission lines detected in the spectra of this source lie beyond the wind, and this gas is probably excited by the shock of the BAL wind with the surrounding medium.

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Y. Krongold, L. Binette, R. Bohlin, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
37/92

Comments: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The Radial Acceleration Relation in Disk Galaxies in the MassiveBlack-II Simulation [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05287

A strong correlation has been measured between the observed centripetal accelerations in galaxies and the accelerations implied by the baryonic components of galaxies. This empirical radial acceleration relation must be accounted for in any viable model of galaxy formation. We measure and compare the radial accelerations contributed by baryons and by dark matter in disk galaxies in the MassiveBlack-II hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulation. The sample of 1594 galaxies spans three orders of magnitude in luminosity and four in surface brightness, comparable to the observed sample from the Spitzer Photometry & Accurate Rotation Curves (SPARC) dataset used by McGaugh et al. (2016). We find that radial accelerations contributed by baryonic matter only and by total matter are highly correlated, with only small scatter around their mean or median relation, despite the wide ranges of galaxy luminosity and surface brightness. We further find that the radial acceleration relation in this simulation differs from that of the SPARC sample, and can be described by a simple power law in the acceleration range we are probing.

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A. Tenneti, Y. Mao, R. Croft, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
39/92

Comments: 7 pages, 4 figures

$\textit{"Super-deblended"}$ Dust Emission in Galaxies: I. the GOODS-North Catalog and the Cosmic Star Formation Rate Density out to Redshift 6 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05281

We present a new technique to obtain multi-wavelength $\textit{“super-deblended”}$ photometry in highly confused images, that we apply here in the GOODS-North field to Herschel and (sub-)millimeter data sets. The key novelties of the method are two: first, starting from a common large prior database of deep 24 $\mu$m and VLA 20 cm detections, an $\textit{active}$ selection of $\textit{useful}$ fitting priors is performed independently at each frequency band and moving from less to more confused bands. Exploiting knowledge of redshift and all available photometry for each source up to the dataset under exam, we identify $\textit{hopelessly faint}$ priors that we remove from the fitting pool. This approach critically reduces blending degeneracies and allows reliable photometry of galaxies in FIR+mm bands. Second, we obtain well-behaved $\textit{quasi-Gaussian}$ flux uncertainties, individually tailored to all fitted priors in each band. This is done exploiting extensive simulations calibrating the conversion of formal fitting uncertainties onto real uncertainties, depending on quantities directly measurable in the observations. Our catalog achieves deeper detection limits with high fidelity measurements and uncertainties at far-infrared to millimeter bands. We identify 71 $z \ge 3$ galaxies with reliable FIR+mm detection and study their location in stellar mass–star formation rate diagrams. We present new constraints on the cosmic star formation rate density at $3 < z < 6$ finding significant contribution from $z \ge 3$ dusty galaxies that are missed by optical to near-infrared color selections. The photometric catalog is released publicly (upon acceptance of the paper).

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D. Liu, E. Daddi, M. Dickinson, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
40/92

Comments: Submitted to ApJ

Implications for the origin of early-type dwarf galaxies — the discovery of rotation in isolated, low-mass early-type galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04975

We present the discovery of rotation in quenched, low-mass early-type galaxies that are isolated. This finding challenges the claim that (all) rotating dwarf early-type galaxies in clusters were once spiral galaxies that have since been harassed and transformed into early-type galaxies. Our search of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data within the Local volume ($z<0.02$) has yielded a sample of 46 galaxies with a stellar mass $M_\star \lesssim 5\times10^9$ M$_\odot$ (median $M_\star \sim 9.29 \times 10^8$ M$_\odot$), a low H$\alpha$ equivalent width EW$_{{\rm H}\alpha}< 2$ \AA, and no massive neighbour ($M_{\star}\gtrsim3 \times 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$) within a velocity interval of $\Delta V = 500$ km s$^{-1}$ and a projected distance of $\sim$1 Mpc. Nine of these galaxies were subsequently observed with Keck ESI and their radial kinematics are presented here. These extend out to the half-light radius $R_e$ in the best cases, and beyond $R_e/2$ for all. They reveal a variety of behaviours similar to those of a comparison sample of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster observed by Toloba et al. Both samples have similar frequencies of slow and fast rotators, as well as kinematically decoupled cores. This, and especially the finding of rotating quenched low-mass galaxies in isolation, reveals that the early-type dwarfs in galaxy clusters need not be harassed or tidally stirred spiral galaxies.

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J. Janz, S. Penny, A. Graham, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
42/92

Comments: 16 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

SDSS-IV MaNGA: variation of the stellar initial mass function in spiral and early-type galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04894

We perform Jeans anisotropic modeling (JAM) on elliptical and spiral galaxies from the MaNGA DR13 sample. By comparing the stellar mass-to-light ratios estimated from stellar population synthesis (SPS) and from JAM, we find a similar systematic variation of the initial mass function (IMF) as in the earlier $\rm ATLAS^{3D}$ results. Early type galaxies (elliptical and lenticular) with lower velocity dispersions within one effective radius are consistent with a Chabrier-like IMF while galaxies with higher velocity dispersions are consistent with a more bottom heavy IMF such as the Salpeter IMF. Spiral galaxies have similar systematic IMF variations, but with slightly different slopes and larger scatters, due to the uncertainties caused by higher gas fractions and extinctions for these galaxies. Furthermore, we examine the effects of stellar mass-to-light ratio gradients on our JAM modeling, and find that the trends from our results becomes stronger after considering the gradients.

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H. Li, J. Ge, S. Mao, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
48/92

Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 9 pages, 9 figures

The Galaxy-Halo Connection Over The Last 13.3 Gyrs [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04542

We present new determinations of the stellar-to-halo mass relation (SHMR) at $z=0-10$ that match the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function, the SFR$-M_*$ relation,and the cosmic star formation rate. We utilize a compilation of 40 observational studies from the literature and correct them for potential biases. Using our robust determinations of halo mass assembly and the SHMR, we infer star formation histories, merger rates, and structural properties for average galaxies, combining star-forming and quenched galaxies. Our main findings: (1) The halo mass $M_{50}$ above which 50\% of galaxies are quenched coincides with sSFR/sMAR$\sim1$, where sMAR is the specific halo mass accretion rate. (2) $M_{50}$ increases with redshift, presumably due to cold streams being more efficient at high redshift while virial shocks and AGN feedback become more relevant at lower redshifts. (3) The ratio sSFR/sMAR has a peak value, which occurs around $M_{\rm vir}\sim2\times10^{11}M_{\odot}$. (4) The stellar mass density within 1 kpc, $\Sigma_1$, is a good indicator of the galactic global sSFR. (5) Galaxies are statistically quenched after they reach a maximum in $\Sigma_1$, consistent with theoretical expectations of the gas compaction model; this maximum depends on redshift. (6) In-situ star formation is responsible for most galactic stellar mass growth, especially for lower-mass galaxies. (7) Galaxies grow inside out. The marked change in the slope of the size–mass relation when galaxies became quenched, from $d\log R_{\rm eff}/d\log M_*\sim0.35$ to $\sim2.5$, could be the result of dry minor mergers.

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A. Rodriguez-Puebla, J. Primack, V. Avila-Reese, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
50/92

Comments: 41 pages, 31 Figures. Submitted to MNRAS. The results presented in this paper are available at this https URL

A Possible Solution for the $M/L-\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$ Relation of Globular Clusters in M31. II. the Age-Metallicity Relation [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04635

This is the second of a series of papers in which we present a new solution to reconcile the prediction of single stellar population (SSP) models with the observed stellar mass-to-light ($M/L$) ratios of globular clusters (GCs) in M31 and its trend with respect to $\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$. In the present work our focus is on the empirical relation between age and metallicity for GCs and its effect on the $M/L$ ratio. Assuming that there is an anti-correlation between the age of M31 GCs and their metallicity, we evolve dynamical SSP models of GCs to establish a relation between the $M/L$ ratio (in the $V$ and $K$ band) and metallicity. We then demonstrate that the established $M/L-\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$ relation is in perfect agreement with that of M31 GCs. In our models we consider both the canonical initial mass function (IMF) and the top-heavy IMF depending on cluster birth density and metallicity as derived independently from Galactic GCs and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies by Marks et al. Our results signify that the combination of the density- and metallicity-dependent top-heavy IMF, the anti-correlation between age and metallicity, stellar evolution and standard dynamical evolution yields the best possible agreement with the observed trend of $M/L-\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$ for M31 GCs.

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H. Haghi, P. Khalaj, A. Zonoozi, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
51/92

Comments: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

The Search for Multiple Populations in Magellanic Cloud Clusters III: No evidence for Multiple Populations in the SMC cluster NGC 419 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04631

We present the third paper about our ongoing HST survey for the search for multiple stellar populations (MPs) within Magellanic Cloud clusters. We report here the analysis of NGC 419, a $\sim 1.5$ Gyr old, massive ($\gtrsim 2 \times 10^5 \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$) star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). By comparing our photometric data with stellar isochrones, we set a limit on [N/Fe] enhancement of $\lesssim$+0.5 dex and hence we find that no MPs are detected in this cluster. This is surprising because, in the first two papers of this series, we found evidence for MPs in 4 other SMC clusters (NGC 121; Lindsay 1, NGC 339, NGC 416), aged from 6 Gyr up to $\sim 10-11$ Gyr. This finding raises the question whether age could play a major role in the MPs phenomenon. Additionally, our results appear to exclude mass or environment as the only key factors regulating the existence of a chemical enrichment, since all clusters studied so far in this survey are equally massive ($\sim 1-2 \times 10^5 \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$) and no particular patterns are found when looking at their spatial distribution in the SMC.

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S. Martocchia, N. Bastian, C. Usher, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
54/92

Comments: MNRAS, accepted. 9 pages, 7 figures

Detection of faint broad emission lines in type 2 AGN: II. On the measurement of the BH mass of type 2 AGN and the unified model [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05167

We report the virial measurements of the BH mass of a sample of 17 type 2 AGN, drawn from the Swift/BAT 70-month 14-195 keV hard X-ray catalogue, where a faint BLR component has been measured via deep NIR (0.8-2.5 $\mu$m) spectroscopy. We compared the type 2 AGN with a control sample of 33 type 1 AGN. We find that the type 2 AGN BH masses span the 5$<$ log(M$_{BH}$ /M$_{\odot}$) $< $7.5 range, with an average log(M$_{BH}$/M$_{\odot}$) = 6.7, which is $\sim$ 0.8 dex smaller than found for type 1 AGN. If type 1 and type 2 AGN of the same X-ray luminosity log($L_{14-195}$/erg s$^{-1}$) $\sim$ 43.5 are compared, type 2 AGN have 0.5 dex smaller BH masses than type 1 AGN. Although based on few tens of objects, this result disagrees with the standard AGN unification scenarios in which type 1 and type 2 AGN are the same objects observed along different viewing angles with respect to a toroidal absorbing material.

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F. Onori, F. Ricci, F. Franca, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
57/92

Comments: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

WISDOM Project – II: Molecular gas measurement of the supermassive black hole mass in NGC4697 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05248

As part of the mm-Wave Interferometric Survey of Dark Object Masses (WISDOM) project, we present an estimate of the mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the nearby fast-rotating early-type galaxy NGC4697. This estimate is based on Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) cycle-3 observations of the 12CO(2-1) emission line with a linear resolution of 29 pc (0.53″). We find that NGC4697 hosts a small relaxed central molecular gas disc with a mass of 1.6×10^7 Msun, co-spatial with the obscuring dust disc visible in optical Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. We also resolve thermal 1mm continuum emission from the dust in this disc. NGC4697 is found to have a very low molecular gas velocity dispersion, $\sigma_{gas}=1.65^{+0.68}_{-0.65}$ km/s. This seems to be partially because the giant molecular cloud mass function is not fully sampled, but other mechanisms such as chemical differentiation in a hard radiation field or morphological quenching also seem to be required. We detect a Keplerian increase of the rotation of the molecular gas in the very centre of NGC4697, and use forward modelling of the ALMA data cube in a Bayesian framework with the KINematic Molecular Simulation (KinMS) code to estimate a SMBH mass of ($1.3_{-0.17}^{+0.18})\times10^8$ Msun and an i-band mass-to-light ratio of $2.14_{-0.05}^{+0.04}$ Msun/Lsun (at the 99% confidence level). Our estimate of the SMBH mass is entirely consistent with previous measurements from stellar kinematics. This increases confidence in the growing number of SMBH mass estimates being obtained in the ALMA era.

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T. Davis, M. Bureau, K. Onishi, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
58/92

Comments: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted to MNRAS

On the post-Keplerian corrections to the orbital periods of a two-body system and their application to the Galactic Center [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04947

Detailed numerical analyses of the orbital motion of a test particle around a spinning primary are performed. They aim to investigate the possibility of using the post-Keplerian (pK) corrections to the orbiter’s periods (draconitic, anomalistic and sidereal) as a further opportunity to perform new tests of post-Newtonian (pN) gravity. As a specific scenario, the S-stars orbiting the Massive Black Hole (MBH) supposedly lurking in Sgr A$^\ast$ at the center of the Galaxy is adopted. We, first, study the effects of the pK Schwarzchild, Lense-Thirring and quadrupole moment accelerations experienced by a target star for various possible initial orbital configurations. It turns out that the results of the numerical simulations are consistent with the analytical ones in the small eccentricity approximation for which almost all the latter ones were derived. For highly elliptical orbits, the size of all the three pK corrections considered turn out to increase remarkably. The periods of the observed S2 and S0-102 stars as functions of the MBH’s spin axis orientation are considered as well. The pK accelerations considered lead to corrections of the orbital periods of the order of 1-100d (Schwarzschild), 0.1-10h (Lense-Thirring) and 1-10^3s (quadrupole) for a target star with a=300-800~AU and e ~ 0.8, which could be possibly measurable by the future facilities.

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L. Iorio and F. Zhang
Thu, 16 Mar 17
61/92

Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ

ZFIRE: Using h$α$ equivalent widths to investigate the in situ initial mass function at z~2 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04536

We use the ZFIRE survey (this http URL) to investigate the high mass slope of the initial mass function (IMF) for a mass-complete (log10(M$_*$/M$_\odot$)~9.3) sample of 102 star-forming galaxies at z~2 using their H{\alpha} equivalent widths (H{\alpha}-EW) and rest-frame optical colours. We compare dust-corrected H{\alpha}-EW distributions with predictions of star-formation histories (SFH) from PEGASE.2 and Starburst99 synthetic stellar population models. We find an excess of high H{\alpha}-EW galaxies that are up to 0.3–0.5 dex above the model-predicted Salpeter IMF locus and the H{\alpha}-EW distribution is much broader (10–500 \AA) than can easily be explained by a simple monotonic SFH with a standard Salpeter-slope IMF. Though this discrepancy is somewhat alleviated when it is assumed that there is no relative attenuation difference between stars and nebular lines, the result is robust against observational biases, and no single IMF (i.e. non-Salpeter slope) can reproduce the data. We show using both spectral stacking and Monte Carlo simulations that starbursts cannot explain the EW distribution. We investigate other physical mechanisms including models with variations in stellar rotation, binary star evolution, metallicity, and the IMF upper-mass cutoff. IMF variations and/or highly rotating extreme metal poor stars (Z~0.1Z$_\odot$) with binary interactions are the most plausible explanations for our data. If the IMF varies, then the highest H{\alpha}-EWs would require very shallow slopes ({\Gamma}>-1.0) with no one slope able to reproduce the data. Thus, the IMF would have to vary stochastically. We conclude that the stellar populations at z~2 show distinct differences from local populations and there is no simple physical model to explain the large variation in H{\alpha}-EWs at z~2.

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T. Nanayakkara, K. Glazebrook, G. Kacprzak, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
62/92

Comments: Accepted to MNRAS. 43 pages, 27 Figures. Survey website: this http URL

The NuSTAR view of the true Type 2 Seyfert NGC3147 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04586

We present the first NuSTAR observation of a ‘true’ Type 2 Seyfert galaxy. The 3-40 keV X-ray spectrum of NGC3147 is characterised by a simple power-law, with a standard {\Gamma}~1.7 and an iron emission line, with no need for any further component up to ~40 keV. These spectral properties, together with significant variability on time-scales as short as weeks (as shown in a 2014 Swift monitoring campaign), strongly support an unobscured line-of-sight for this source. An alternative scenario in terms of a Compton-thick source is strongly disfavoured, requiring an exceptional geometrical configuration, whereas a large fraction of the solid angle to the source is filled by a highly ionised gas, whose reprocessed emission would dominate the observed luminosity. Moreover, in this scenario the implied intrinsic X-ray luminosity of the source would be much larger than the value predicted by other luminosity proxies, like the [OIII]{\lambda}5007 emission line extinction-corrected luminosity. Therefore, we confirm with high confidence that NGC3147 is a true Type 2 Seyfert galaxy, intrinsically characterised by the absence of a BLR.

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S. Bianchi, A. Marinucci, G. Matt, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
69/92

Comments: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Early Science with the Large Millimeter Telescope: Detection of dust emission in multiple images of a normal galaxy at $z>4$ lensed by a Frontier Fields cluster [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04535

We directly detect dust emission in an optically-detected, multiply-imaged galaxy lensed by the Frontier Fields cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745. We detect two images of the same galaxy at 1.1mm with the AzTEC camera on the Large Millimeter Telescope leaving no ambiguity in the counterpart identification. This galaxy, MACS071_Az9, is at z>4 and the strong lensing model (mu=7.5) allows us to calculate an intrinsic IR luminosity of 9.7e10 Lsun and an obscured star formation rate of 14.6 +/- 4.5 Msun/yr. The unobscured star formation rate from the UV is only 4.1 +/- 0.3 Msun/yr which means the total star formation rate (18.7 +/- 4.5 Msun/yr) is dominated (75-80%) by the obscured component. With an intrinsic stellar mass of only 6.9e9Msun, MACS0717_Az9 is one of only a handful of z>4 galaxies at these lower masses that is detected in dust emission. This galaxy lies close to the estimated star formation sequence at this epoch. However, it does not lie on the dust obscuration relation (IRX-beta) for local starburst galaxies and is instead consistent with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) attenuation law. This remarkable lower mass galaxy showing signs of both low metallicity and high dust content may challenge our picture of dust production in the early Universe.

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A. Pope, A. Montana, A. Battisti, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
72/92

Comments: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Probing Large Galaxy Halos at $z\sim0$ with Automated $\rm Ly α$-Absorption Matching [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04618

We present initial results from an ongoing large-scale study of the circumgalactic medium in the nearby Universe ($cz \leq 10,000$ km/s), using archival Cosmic Origins Spectrograph spectra of background quasi-stellar objects. This initial sample contains 33 sightlines chosen for their proximity to large galaxies (D > 25 kpc) and high signal-to-noise ratios (S/N > 10), yielding 48 Ly$\alpha$ absorption lines that we have paired with 33 unique galaxies, with 29 cases where multiple absorbers within a single sightline are paired with the same galaxy. We introduce a likelihood parameter to facilitate the matching of galaxies to absorption lines in a reproducible manner. We find the usual anti-correlation between Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width (EW) and impact parameter ($\rho$) when we normalize by galaxy virial radius ($R_{vir}$). Galaxies associated with a Ly$\alpha$ absorber are found to be more highly-inclined than galaxies in the survey volume at a >99% confidence level (equivalent to $\sim 3.6 \sigma$ for a normal distribution). In contrast with suggestions in other recent papers of a correlation with azimuth angle for Mg II absorption, we find no such correlation for Ly$\alpha$.

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D. French and B. Wakker
Thu, 16 Mar 17
73/92

Comments: 11 pages, 13 figures

Searching for GC-like abundance patterns in young massive clusters II. – Results from the Antennae galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04591

The presence of multiple populations (MPs) with distinctive light element abundances is a widespread phenomenon in clusters older than 6 Gyr. Clusters with masses, luminosities, and sizes comparable to those of ancient globulars are still forming today. Nonetheless, the presence of light element variations has been poorly investigated in such young systems, even if the knowledge of the age at which this phenomenon develops is crucial for theoretical models on MPs. We use J-band integrated spectra of three young (7-40 Myr) clusters in NGC 4038 to look for Al variations indicative of MPs. Assuming that the large majority (>70%) of stars are characterised by high Al content – as observed in Galactic clusters with comparable mass; we find that none of the studied clusters show significant Al variations. Small Al spreads have been measured in all the six young clusters observed in the near-infrared. While it is unlikely that young clusters only show low Al whereas old ones display different levels of Al variations; this suggests the possibility that MPs are not present at such young ages at least among the high-mass stellar component. Alternatively, the fraction of stars with field-like chemistry could be extremely large, mimicking low Al abundances in the integrated spectrum. Finally, since the near-infrared stellar continuum of young clusters is almost entirely due to luminous red supergiants, we can also speculate that MPs only manifest themselves in low mass stars due to some evolutionary mechanism.

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C. Lardo, I. Cabrera-Ziri, B. Davies, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
74/92

Comments: 7 pages, 5 figures. To be published in MNRAS

Dark-ages Reionization and Galaxy Formation Simulation X. The small contribution of quasars to reionization [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04895

Motivated by recent measurements of the number density of faint AGN at high redshift, we investigate the contribution of quasars to reionization by tracking the growth of central supermassive black holes in an update of the {\sc Meraxes} semi-analytic model. The model is calibrated against the observed stellar mass function at $z{\sim}0.6{-}7$, the black hole mass function at $z{\lesssim}0.5$, the global ionizing emissivity at $z{\sim}2{-}5$, and the Thomson scattering optical depth. The model reproduces a Magorrian relation in agreement with observations at $z{<}0.5$, and predicts a decreasing black hole mass towards higher redshifts at fixed total stellar mass. With the implementation of an opening angle of $80$ degrees for quasar radiation, corresponding to an observable fraction of ${\sim}23.4$ per cent due to obscuration by dust, the model is able to reproduce the observed quasar luminosity function at $z{\sim}0.6{-}6$. The stellar light from galaxies hosting faint AGN contributes a significant or dominant fraction of the UV flux. At high redshift, the model is consistent with the bright end quasar luminosity function and suggests that the recent faint $z{\sim}4$ AGN sample compiled by \citet{Giallongo2015} includes a significant fraction of stellar light. Direct application of this luminosity function to the calculation of AGN ionizing emissivity consequently overestimates the number of ionizing photons produced by quasars by a factor of 3 at $z{\sim}6$. We conclude that quasars are unlikely to make a significant contribution to reionization.

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Y. Qin, S. Mutch, G. Poole, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
78/92

Comments: 20 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRAS, comments are welcome

(Almost) Dark Galaxies in the ALFALFA Survey: Isolated HI Bearing Ultra Diffuse Galaxies [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05293

We present a sample of 115 very low optical surface brightness, highly extended, HI-rich galaxies carefully selected from the ALFALFA survey that have similar optical absolute magnitudes, surface brightnesses, and radii to recently discovered “ultra-diffuse” galaxies (UDGs). However, these systems are bluer and have more irregular morphologies than other UDGs, are isolated, and contain significant reservoirs of HI. We find that while these sources have normal star formation rates for HI selected galaxies of similar stellar mass, they have very low star formation efficiencies. We further present deep optical and HI synthesis follow up imaging of three of these HI-bearing ultra-diffuse sources. We measure HI diameters extending to ~40 kpc, but note that while all three sources have large HI diameters for their stellar mass, they are consistent with the HI mass – HI radius relation. We further analyze the HI velocity widths and rotation velocities for the unresolved and resolved sources respectively, and find that the sources appear to inhabit halos of dwarf galaxies. We estimate spin parameters, and suggest that these sources may exist in high spin parameter halos, and as such may be potential HI-rich progenitors to the ultra-diffuse galaxies observed in cluster environments.

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L. Leisman, M. Haynes, S. Janowiecki, et. al.
Thu, 16 Mar 17
79/92

Comments: 18 pages, 8 figures, resubmitted to ApJ after revisions based on reviewer comments

On the Chemistry of the Young Massive Protostellar core NGC 2264 CMM3 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04632

We present the first gas-grain astrochemical model of the NGC 2264 CMM3 protostellar core. The chemical evolution of the core is affected by changing its physical parameters such as the total density and the amount of gas-depletion onto grain surfaces as well as the cosmic ray ionisation rate, $\zeta$. We estimated $\zeta_{\text {CMM3}}$ = 1.6 $\times$ 10$^{-17}$ s$^{-1}$. This value is 1.3 times higher than the standard CR ionisation rate, $\zeta_{\text {ISM}}$ = 1.3 $\times$ 10$^{-17}$ s$^{-1}$. Species response differently to changes into the core physical conditions, but they are more sensitive to changes in the depletion percentage and CR ionisation rate than to variations in the core density. Gas-phase models highlighted the importance of surface reactions as factories of large molecules and showed that for sulphur bearing species depletion is important to reproduce observations.
Comparing the results of the reference model with the most recent millimeter observations of the NGC 2264 CMM3 core showed that our model is capable of reproducing the observed abundances of most of the species during early stages ($\le$ 3$\times$10$^4$ yrs) of their chemical evolution. Models with variations in the core density between 1 – 20 $\times$ 10$^6$ cm$^{-3}$ are also in good agreement with observations during the early time interval 1 $\times$ 10$^4 <$ t (yr) $<$ 5 $\times$ 10$^4$. In addition, models with higher CR ionisation rates (5 – 10) $\times \zeta_{\text {ISM}}$ are often overestimating the fractional abundances of the species. However, models with $\zeta_{\text {CMM3}}$ = 5 $\zeta_{\text {ISM}}$ may best fit observations at times $\sim$ 2 $\times$ 10$^4$ yrs. Our results suggest that CMM3 is (1 – 5) $\times$ 10$^4$ yrs old. Therefore, the core is chemically young and it may host a Class 0 object as suggested by previous studies.

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Z. Awad and O. Shalabeia
Thu, 16 Mar 17
81/92

Comments: 24 pages, 4 figures, 3 Tables. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science

Origin of the fundamental plane of elliptical galaxies in the Coma Cluster without fine-tuning [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05163

After thirty years of the discovery of the fundamental plane, explanations to the tilt of the fundamental plane with respect to the virial plane still suffer from the need of fine-tuning. In this paper, we try to explore the origin of this tilt from the perspective of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) by applying the 16 Coma galaxies available in Thomas et al.[1]. Based on the mass models that can reproduce de Vaucouleurs’ law closely, we find that the tilt of the traditional fundamental plane is naturally explained by the simple form of the MONDian interpolating function, if we assume a well motivated choice of anisotropic velocity distribution, and adopt the Kroupa or Salpeter stellar mass-to-light ratio. Our analysis does not necessarily rule out a varying stellar mass-to-light ratio.

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M. Chiu, C. Ko and C. Shu
Thu, 16 Mar 17
86/92

Comments: N/A

The igmspec Database of Public Spectra Probing the Intergalactic Medium [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04695

We describe v02 of igmspec, a database of publically available ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared spectra that probe the intergalactic medium (IGM). This database, a child of the specdb repository in the specdb github organization, comprises 403277 unique sources and 434686 spectra obtained with the world’s greatest observatories. All of these data are distributed in a single ~25 GB HDF5 file maintained at the University of California Observatories and the University of California, Santa Cruz. The specdb software package includes Python scripts and modules for searching the source catalog and spectral datasets, and software links to the linetools package for spectral analysis. The repository also includes software to generate private spectral datasets that are compliant with International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) protocols and a Python-based interface for IVOA Simple Spectral Access queries. Future versions of igmspec will ingest other sources (e.g. gamma-ray burst afterglows) and other surveys as they become publicly available. The overall goal is to include every spectrum that effectively probes the IGM. Future databases of specdb may include publicly available galaxy spectra (exgalspec) and published supernovae spectra (snspec). The community is encouraged to join the effort on github: https://github.com/specdb

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J. Prochaska
Thu, 16 Mar 17
90/92

Comments: Accepted to Astronomy & Computing; 21 pages, 1 figure; join this https URL and clone this https URL