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The distribution of atomic gas and dust in nearby galaxies - III. Radial distributions and metallicity gradients
The radial distribution of dust and gas in 38 nearby galaxies isinvestigated, using a sample of galaxies for which matched resolution(25 arcsec) neutral hydrogen (HI) and 850-μm images are available.Most of these radial profiles are fitted well by an exponential model,and the derived 850-μm scalelengths are proportional to the HIscalelengths. From this relation, it is found that the metallicitygradients of these galaxies are much shallower than previous studies,unless the dust temperature is constant within the disc, or asignificant component of molecular gas exists at large radii that is nottraced by CO observations.
| Revised masses of dust and gas of SCUBA Local Universe Survey far-infrared bright galaxies based on a recent CO survey
Recent CO measurements of an essentially complete subsample of galaxiesfrom the SCUBA Local Universe Survey (SLUGS) are used to examine theirimplications for dust and gas masses in this sample. Estimates of dustmasses are affected by a contribution to the SCUBA brightnessmeasurements by CO(3-2) emission, and molecular gas masses by the use ofa modified value of the CO-to-H2 conversion factor X. Theaverage dust mass is reduced by 25-38 per cent, which has no bearing onearlier conclusions concerning the shape of the dust mass luminosityfunction derived from the SLUGS. The value of X found from the COsurvey, when applied together with the reduction in dust masses, leadsto lower estimates for the mean gas-to-dust mass ratios, where the gasincludes both H2 and H I. For the CO sample, the mean globalratio is reduced from approximately 430 to about 320-360, but is furtherreduced to values near 50 when applied to the nuclear regions relevantto the CO observations. We discuss these results and suggest that thedifferences between the nuclear and outer regions may simply reflectdifferences in metallicity or the existence of considerable amounts ofunobserved cold dust in the outer regions of these galaxies.
| Dust masses and star formation in bright IRAS galaxies. Application of a physical model for the interpretation of FIR observations
We address the problem of modeling the far-infrared (FIR) spectrum andderiving the star-formation rate (SFR) and the dust mass of spiralgalaxies. We use the realistic physical model of Popescu et al.(\cite{popescu}) to describe the overall ultra-violet (UV), optical andFIR spectral energy distribution (SED) of a spiral galaxy. The modeltakes into account the 3-dimensional old and young stellar distributionsin the bulge and the disk of a galaxy, together with the dust geometry.The geometrical characteristics of the galaxy and the intrinsic opticaland near-infrared spectra are determined by the galaxy's observed K-bandphotometry. The UV part of the spectrum is assumed to be proportional tothe SFR through the use of population synthesis models. By solving theradiative transfer equation, we are able to determine the absorbedenergy, the dust temperature and the resulting FIR spectrum. The modelhas only three free parameters: SFR, dust mass, and the fraction of theUV radiation which is absorbed locally by dense dust in the HII regions.Using this model, we are able to fit well the FIR spectra of 62 brightIRAS galaxies from the ``SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey" of Dunne etal. (\cite{dunne1}). As a result, we are able to determine, amongothers, their SFR and dust mass. We find that, on average, the SFR (inabsolute units), the star-formation efficiency, the SFR surface densityand the ratio of FIR luminosity over the total intrinsic luminosity, arelarger than the respective values of typical spiral galaxies of the samemorphological type. We also find that the mean gas-to-dust mass ratio isclose to the Galactic value, while the average central face-on opticaldepth of these galaxies in the V band is 2.3. Finally, we find a strongcorrelation between SFR or dust mass and observed FIR quantities liketotal FIR luminosity or FIR luminosity at 100 and 850 μm. Thesecorrelations yield well-defined relations, which can be used todetermine a spiral galaxy's SFR and dust-mass content from FIRobservations.
| CO Molecular Gas in Infrared-luminous Galaxies
We present the first statistical survey of the properties of the12CO(1-0) and 12CO(3-2) line emission from thenuclei of a nearly complete subsample of 60 infrared (IR) luminousgalaxies selected from SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey (SLUGS). Thissubsample is flux limited at S60μm>=5.24 Jy with far-IR(FIR) luminosities mostly at LFIR>1010Lsolar. We compare the emission line strengths of12CO(1-0) and (3-2) transitions at a common resolution of~15". The measured 12CO(3-2) to (1-0) line intensity ratiosr31 vary from 0.22 to 1.72, with a mean value of 0.66 for thesources observed, indicating a large spread of the degree of excitationof CO in the sample. These CO data, together with a wide range of dataat different wavelengths obtained from the literature, allow us to studythe relationship between the CO excitation conditions and the physicalproperties of gas/dust and star formation in the central regions ofgalaxies. Our analysis shows that there is a nonlinear relation betweenCO and FIR luminosities, such that their ratioLCO/LFIR decreases linearly with increasingLFIR. This behavior was found to be consistent with theSchmidt law relating star formation rate to molecular gas content, withan index N=1.4+/-0.3. We also find a possible dependence of the degreeof CO gas excitation on the efficiency of star-forming activity. Usingthe large velocity gradient (LVG) approximation to model the observeddata, we investigate the CO-to-H2 conversion factor X for theSLUGS sample. The results show that the mean value of X for the SLUGSsample is lower by a factor of 10 compared to the conventional valuederived for the Galaxy, if we assume the abundance of CO relative toH2, ZCO=10-4. For a subset of 12galaxies with H I maps, we derive a mean total face-on surface densityof H2+HI of about 42 Msolar pc-2 withinabout 2 kpc of the nucleus. This value is intermediate between that ingalaxies like our own and those with strong star formation.
| The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample
IRAS flux densities, redshifts, and infrared luminosities are reportedfor all sources identified in the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample(RBGS), a complete flux-limited survey of all extragalactic objects withtotal 60 μm flux density greater than 5.24 Jy, covering the entiresky surveyed by IRAS at Galactic latitudes |b|>5°. The RBGS includes629 objects, with median and mean sample redshifts of 0.0082 and 0.0126,respectively, and a maximum redshift of 0.0876. The RBGS supersedes theprevious two-part IRAS Bright Galaxy Samples(BGS1+BGS2), which were compiled before the final(Pass 3) calibration of the IRAS Level 1 Archive in 1990 May. The RBGSalso makes use of more accurate and consistent automated methods tomeasure the flux of objects with extended emission. The RBGS contains 39objects that were not present in the BGS1+BGS2,and 28 objects from the BGS1+BGS2 have beendropped from RBGS because their revised 60 μm flux densities are notgreater than 5.24 Jy. Comparison of revised flux measurements forsources in both surveys shows that most flux differences are in therange ~5%-25%, although some faint sources at 12 and 25 μm differ byas much as a factor of 2. Basic properties of the RBGS sources aresummarized, including estimated total infrared luminosities, as well asupdates to cross identifications with sources from optical galaxycatalogs established using the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Inaddition, an atlas of images from the Digitized Sky Survey with overlaysof the IRAS position uncertainty ellipse and annotated scale bars isprovided for ease in visualizing the optical morphology in context withthe angular and metric size of each object. The revised bolometricinfrared luminosity function, φ(Lir), forinfrared-bright galaxies in the local universe remains best fit by adouble power law, φ(L)~Lα, withα=-0.6(+/-0.1) and α=-2.2(+/-0.1) below and above the``characteristic'' infrared luminosityL*ir~1010.5Lsolar,respectively. A companion paper provides IRAS High Resolution (HIRES)processing of over 100 RBGS sources where improved spatial resolutionoften provides better IRAS source positions or allows for deconvolutionof close galaxy pairs.
| An Hα survey aiming at the detection of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas in halos of edge-on spiral galaxies. I. How common are gaseous halos among non-starburst galaxies?
In a series of two papers we present results of a new Hα imagingsurvey, aiming at the detection of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas inhalos of late-type spiral galaxies. We have investigated a sample of 74nearby edge-on spirals, covering the northern and southern hemisphere.In 30 galaxies we detected extraplanar diffuse emission at meandistances of |z| ~ 1-2 kpc. Individual filaments can be traced out to|z|<=6 kpc in a few cases. We find a good correlation between the FIRflux ratio (S60/S100) and the SFR per unit area(LFIR/D225), based on thedetections/non-detections. This is actually valid for starburst, normaland for quiescent galaxies. A minimal SFR per unit area for the lowestS60/S100 values, at which extended emission hasbeen detected, was derived, which amounts to dotEA25thres = (3.2+/-0.5)*E40ergs-1 kpc-2. There are galaxies where extraplanaremission was detected at smaller values ofLFIR/D225, however, only in combinationwith a significantly enhanced dust temperature. The results corroboratethe general view that the gaseous halos are a direct consequence of SFactivity in the underlying galactic disk.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,Chile (ESO No. 63.N-0070, ESO No. 64.N-0034, ESO No. 65.N.-0002).
| The distribution of atomic gas and dust in nearby galaxies - I. Presentation of matched-resolution VLA H I and SCUBA 850-μm maps
We present matched-resolution VLA HI and SCUBA 850-μm maps of 20IRAS-bright galaxies. Of the galaxies observed, two were not detected inHI and two were detected in absorption. The HI distributions of thegalaxies have a range of morphologies. Some of the systems appear HIdeficient in the central regions which could be due to a high conversionrate of HI into molecules or HI absorption. In contrast to the HI, the850-μm emission has a smooth distribution which is concentratedtowards the optical centre of each galaxy. We also find evidence for850-μm emission extending to the periphery of the optical disc insome of the galaxies. Finally, we note that the relative lack of850-μm emission when compared with HI does not necessarily mean thatthe atomic gas and dust do not have similar mass distributions.
| The SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey - I. First measurements of the submillimetre luminosity and dust mass functions
This is the first of a series of papers presenting results from theSCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey (SLUGS), the first statistical surveyof the submillimetre properties of the local Universe. As the initialpart of this survey, we have used the SCUBA camera on the James ClerkMaxwell Telescope to observe 104 galaxies from the IRAS Bright GalaxySample. We present here the 850-μm flux measurements. The 60-, 100-,and 850-μm flux densities are well fitted by single-temperature dustspectral energy distributions, with the sample mean and standarddeviation for the best-fitting temperature beingTd=35.6+/-4.9K and for the dust emissivity indexβ=1.3+/-0.2. The dust temperature was found to correlate with60-μm luminosity. The low value of β may simply mean that thesegalaxies contain a significant amount of dust that is colder than thesetemperatures. We have estimated dust masses from the 850-μm fluxesand from the fitted temperature, although if a colder component ataround 20K is present (assuming a β of 2), then the estimated dustmasses are a factor of 1.5-3 too low. We have made the first directmeasurements of the submillimetre luminosity function (LF) and of thedust mass function. Unlike the IRAS 60-μm LF, these are well fittedby Schechter functions. The slope of the 850-μm LF at lowluminosities is steeper than -2, implying that the LF must flatten atluminosities lower than we probe here. We show that extrapolating the60-μm LF to 850μm using a single temperature and β does notreproduce the measured submillimetre LF. A population of `cold' galaxies(Td<25K) emitting strongly at submillimetre wavelengthswould have been excluded from the 60-μm-selected sample. If suchgalaxies do exist, then this estimate of the 850-μm flux is biased(it is underestimated). Whether such a population does exist is unknownat present. We correlate many of the global galaxy properties with theFIR/submillimetre properties. We find that there is a tendency for lessluminous galaxies to contain hotter dust and to have a greater starformation efficiency (cf. Young). The average gas-to-dust ratio for thesample is 581+/-43 (using both the atomic and molecular hydrogen), whichis significantly higher than the Galactic value of 160. We believe thatthis discrepancy is probably due to a `cold dust' component atTd<=20K in our galaxies. There is a surprisingly tightcorrelation between dust mass and the mass of molecular hydrogen,estimated from CO measurements, with an intrinsic scatter of ~=50percent.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| Arcsecond Positions of UGC Galaxies
We present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only.
| The Mass-to-Light Ratio of Binary Galaxies
We report on the mass-to-light ratio determination based on a newlyselected binary galaxy sample, which includes a large number of pairswhose separations exceed a few hundred kpc. The probabilitydistributions of the projected separation and the velocity differencehave been calculated considering the contamination of optical pairs, andthe mass-to-light (M/L) ratio has been determined based on the maximumlikelihood method. The best estimate of the M/L in the B band for 57pairs is found to be 28-36 depending on the orbital parameters and thedistribution of optical pairs (solar unit: H_0=50 km s^-1 Mpc^-1). Thebest estimate of the M/L for 30 pure spiral pairs is found to be 12-16.These results are relatively smaller than those obtained in previousstudies but are consistent with each other within the errors. Althoughthe number of pairs with large separation is significantly increasedcompared with previous samples, the M/L does not show any tendency ofincrease but is found to be almost independent of the separation ofpairs beyond 100 kpc. The constancy of the M/L beyond 100 kpc mayindicate that the typical halo size of spiral galaxies is less than ~100kpc.
| An Infrared Search for Extinguished Supernovae in Starburst Galaxies
IR and radio-band observations of heavily extinguished regions instarburst galaxies suggest a high supernova (SN) rate associated withsuch regions. Optically measured SN rates may therefore underestimatethe total SN rate by factors of up to 10, as a result of the very highextinction (A_B~10-20 mag) to core-collapse SNe in starburst regions.The IR/radio SN rates come from a variety of indirect means, however,which suffer from model dependence and other problems. We describe adirect measurement of the SN rate from a regular patrol of starburstgalaxies done with K'-band imaging to minimize the effects ofextinction. A collection of K'-band measurements of core-collapse SNenear maximum light is presented. Such measurements (excluding 1987A) arenot well reported in the literature. Results of a preliminary K'-bandsearch, using the MIRC camera at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory and animproved search strategy using the new ORCA optics, are described. Amonthly patrol of a sample of IRAS bright (mostly starburst) galaxieswithin 25 Mpc should yield 1-6 SNe yr^-1, corresponding to the range ofestimated SN rates. Our initial MIRC search with low resolution (2.2"pixels) failed to find extinguished SNe in the IRAS galaxies, limitingthe SN rate outside the nucleus (at greater than 15" radius) to lessthan 3.8 far-IR SN rate units (SNe per century per 10^10 L_solarmeasured at 60 and 100 mum, or FIRSRU) at 90% confidence. The MIRCcamera had insufficient resolution to search nuclear starburst regions,where starburst and SN activity is concentrated; therefore, we wereunable to rigorously test the hypothesis of high SN rates in heavilyobscured star-forming regions. We conclude that high-resolution nuclearSN searches in starburst galaxies with small fields are more productivethan low-resolution, large-field searches, even for our sample of large(often several arcminutes) galaxies. With our ORCA high-resolutionoptics, we could limit the total SN rate to less than 1.3 FIRSRU at 90%confidence in 3 years of observations, lower than most estimates.
| The Supernova Rate in Starburst Galaxies
We conducted an optical CCD search for supernovae in a sample of 142bright [m(B) <= 16 mag], nearby (z<=0.03) starburst galaxies overthe period 1988 December to 1991 June, to a limiting R-band magnitude of18. Five supernovae were found, in all cases outside the host galaxy'snucleus. We determine supernova rates (in supernova units or SNU) in theextranuclear regions to be 0.7 h^2 SNU for Type Ia, 0.7 h^2 SNU for TypeIb/c, and ~0.6 h^2 SNU for Type II, with large uncertainties but upperlimits of 2.2 h^2, 2.5 h^2, and 1.7 h^2 SNU, respectively. These ratesare similar to those measured in ``normal'' galaxies. We found noevidence for a supernova-induced brightening in any galactic nucleusand, with a few reasonable assumptions, can place upper limits of 9 h^2,12 h^2, and 7 h^2 SNU on the rates of unobscured supernovae Types Ia,Ib/c, and II, respectively, inside the nuclei.
| The Nature of Starburst Galaxies
Utilizing a large sample of infrared-selected starburst galaxies havingoptical images and long-slit spectra, we explore the interrelationshipsbetween the properties of starbursts and relate these properties tothose of the "host" galaxy. We find that the half-light radius of theHα-emitting region (r_e,Hα_) enters into severalcorrelations that suggest it is physically related to the actualstarburst radius. Most suggestively, the effective IR surface brightness(L_IR_/πr^2^_e,Hα_) correlates strongly with the far-IR colortemperature. This can be reproduced roughly with an idealized model of asurrounding dust screen whose far-IR emissivity is determined by thelocal energy density of UV starburst light. Typical values forr_e,Hα_ are a few hundred pc to a few kpc (with the Hαemission being significantly more compact than the red starlight). Thisconfirms the "circumnuclear" scales of typical starbursts. We show alsothat starbursts seem to obey a limiting IR surface brightness of about10^11^L_sun_ kpc^2^, corresponding to a maximum star formation rate ofabout 20 M_sun_ yr^-1^ kpc^2^ for a normal initial mass function. Weargue that this upper limit suggests that starbursts are self-regulatingin some way. We show that most of these galaxies have relatively normal,symmetric rotation curves. This implies that the galactic disk need notsuffer severe dynamical damage in order to "fuel" a typical starburst.We show also that the starbursts occur preferentially in the innerregion of solid-body rotation. This may reflect both bar-driven inflowof gas to the region between the inner Lindblad resonances and thedominance of gravitational instability over tidal shear in this region.Most of the starbursts reside in galaxies with rotation speeds of120-200 km s^-1^ (compared to 220 km s^-1^ for a fiducial L^*^ galaxylike the Milky Way). The lack of a correlation between galaxy rotationspeed and starburst luminosity means that even relatively modestgalaxies (masses~10% of the Milky Way) can host powerful starbursts. Weargue on the basis of causality that the internal velocity dispersion ina starburst sets an upper limit to the star formation rate. The mostextreme starbursts approach this limit, but most are well below.Finally, we show that the relative narrowness of the nuclear emissionlines in starbursts (relative to the galaxy rotation speed) arisesbecause the gas in the nuclear "bin" usually does not sample fully thesolid-body part of the rotation curve. The narrow lines do notnecessarily imply that the starburst is not in dynamical equilibrium.
| An image database. II. Catalogue between δ=-30deg and δ=70deg.
A preliminary list of 68.040 galaxies was built from extraction of35.841 digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey (Paper I). For eachgalaxy, the basic parameters are obtained: coordinates, diameter, axisratio, total magnitude, position angle. On this preliminary list, weapply severe selection rules to get a catalog of 28.000 galaxies, wellidentified and well documented. For each parameter, a comparison is madewith standard measurements. The accuracy of the raw photometricparameters is quite good despite of the simplicity of the method.Without any local correction, the standard error on the total magnitudeis about 0.5 magnitude up to a total magnitude of B_T_=17. Significantsecondary effects are detected concerning the magnitudes: distance toplate center effect and air-mass effect.
| The bar-enhanced star-formation activities in spiral galaxies.
We use the ratio L_FIR_/L_B_ and the IRAS color index S_25_/S_12_ (bothwidely used as indices of relative star formation rates in galaxies) toanalyse subsets (containing no known AGNs or merging/interactinggalaxies) of: (a) the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample, (b) galaxies from theoptically complete RSA sample which have IRAS detections in all fourbands, and (c) a volume-limited IR-unselected sample. We confirm thatIR-bright barred (SB) galaxies do, on average, have very significantlyhigher values of the FIR-optical and S_25_/S_12_ ratios (and presumably,higher relative star formation rates, SFR) than that do unbarred ones;the effect is most obvious in the IR colors. We also confirm that thesedifferences are confined to early-type (S0/a-Sbc) spirals and are notevident among late-type systems (Sc-Sdm). Unlike others, we see noenhancement of the SFR in weakly-barred (SAB) galaxies. We furtherconfirm that the effect of bars on the SFR is associated with therelative IR luminosity and show that it is detectable only in galaxieswith L_FIR_/L_B_>1/3, suggesting that as soon as they have anyeffect, bars translate their host galaxies into this relativelyIR-luminous group. Conversely, for galaxies with L_FIR_/L_B_ below ~0.1this luminosity ratio is lower among barred than unbarred systems, againconfirming and quantifying an earlier result. Although there is nosimple physical relation between H I content and star formation, astrong correlation of H I content with the presence of bars has beenfound for early-type spirals with L_FIR_/L_B_>1/3. This suggests thatthe availability of fuel is the factor determining just which galaxiesundergo bar-induced starbursts.
| Ionized gas in the halos of edge-on, starburst galaxies: Data and results
We present narrowband H-alpha and broadband R images, as well aslong-slit spectra oriented along the minor and major axes of a sample ofabout 50 edge-on (a/b greater than or equal to 2), infrared-warm(S60 microns/S100 microns greater than 0.04),infrared-bright S60 microns greater than or equal to 5.4 Jygalaxies. The infrared luminosity of the sample ranges over1010 - 1012 solar luminosity. The spatiallyresolved spectroscopy includes the measurement of velocity relative tothe nuclear velocity, full width at half-maximum, total integrated fluxin the profile (for those spectra taken under photometric conditions)for the lines (N II) lambda lambda 6548, 6583, (O I) lambda 6300,H-alpha, and (S II) lambda lambda 6716, 6713 and line ratios as afunction of slit position along both the major and minor axes. Theresolution of the spectra are between about 3 and 5 A. The spectroscopicdata are presented for 5 bins along each axis -- a nuclear bin that is asum of the CCD rows that cover the half-light diameter centered on thenucleus of the galaxy, two near-nuclear bins which are sums of the CCDrows that cover from one to two half-light radii on each side of thenucleus, and two off-nuclear bins which are sums of the rows at nucleardistances greater than two half-light radii on each side of the nucleus.Additionally, we present recession velocities, nuclear line asymmetries,rotation speeds, minor axis velocity shears, H-alpha luminosities,R-band absolute magnitudes, minor axis H-alpha `excess' and effectiveradii of the galaxies in h-alpha and the R continuum. We deferdiscussion of the properties of the emission-line gas and theircorrelation with the infrared properties of this sample of galaxies to alater paper and limit ourselves to a presentation of the data andanalysis.
| Multiwavelength Energy Distributions and Bolometric Luminosities of the 12 Micron Galaxy Sample
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ...453..616S&db_key=AST
| A volume-limited sample of IRAS galaxies to 4000 km/s, 3: CCD photometry from Palomar and Tololo observatories
An all-sky, quasi-volume-limited sample of 251 spiral galaxies within4000 km/s has been extracted from the redshift survey of InfraredAstronomy Satellite (IRAS) galaxies by Strauss (1992). Distance modulifor these objects estimated via the Tully-Fisher (TF) method allow thepeculiar velocity field and the cosmological density parameter to beconstrained within this volume. The TF relation we exploit relatesdeprojected neutral hydrogen line width to near-infrared luminosity.Herein we present I and V band photometry for 159 members of this sampleobtained with charge coupled device (CCD) cameras at Palomar and Tololoobservatories. Image processing and photometric calibration proceduresare described. Twenty seven objects with multiple calibratedobservations suggest that isophotal I band magnitudes are reproduced toequal to or less than 0.05 mag precision at sigmaI = 23.5 magarcsec-2, and that systematic run-to-run offsets are limitedto equal to or less than 0.05 I mag.
| The extended 12 micron galaxy sample
We have selected an all-sky (absolute value of b greater than or equalto 25 deg) 12 micron flux-limited sample of 893 galaxies from the IRASFaint Source Catalog, Version 2 (FSC-2). We have obtained accurate totalfluxes in the IRAS wavebands by using the ADDSCAN procedure for allobjects with FSC-2 12 micron fluxes greater than 0.15 Jy and increasingflux densities from 12 to 60 microns, and defined the sample by imposinga survey limit of 0.22 Jy on the total 12 micron flux. Its completenessis verified, by means of the classical log N - log S andV/Vmax tests, down to 0.30 Jy, below which we have measuredthe incompleteness down to the survey limit, using the log N - log Splot, for our statistical analysis. We have obtained redshifts (mostlyfrom catalogs) for virtually all (98.4%) the galaxies in the sample.Using existing catalogs of active galaxies, we defined a subsample of118 objects consisting of 53 Seyfert 1s and quasars, 63 Seyfert 2s, andtwo blazars (approximately 13% of the full sample), which is the largestunbiased sample of Seyfert galaxies ever assembled. Since the 12 micronflux has been shown to be about one-fifth of the bolometric flux forSeyfert galaxies and quasars, the subsample of Seyferts (includingquasars and blazars) is complete not only to 0.30 Jy at 12 microns butalso with respect to a bolometric flux limit of approximately 2.0 x10-10 ergs/s/sq cm. The average value of V/Vmaxfor the full sample, corrected for incompleteness at low fluxes, is 0.51+/- 0.04, expected for a complete sample of uniformly distributedgalaxies, while the value for the Seyfert galaxy subsample is 0.46 +/-0.10. We have derived 12 microns and far-infrared luminosity functionsfor the AGNs, as well as for the entire sample. We extracted from oursample a complete subsample of 235 galaxies flux-limited (8.3 Jy) at 60microns. The 60 micron luminosity function computed for this subsampleis in satisfactory agreement with the ones derived from the brightgalaxy sample (BGS) and the deep high-galactic latitude sample, bothselected at 60 microns.
| Hydroxyl in galaxies. I - Surveys with the NRAO 300 FT telescope
Results are presented of a search for 1667- and 1665-MHz mainline OHtransitions for 321 galaxies, which were observed during four separatesessions at the NRAO 300-ft telescope in the period 1984-1987. Threedetections of OH megamasers are reported, as well as detections of threenew OH absorption sources. The observational sample contains sourcesfrom a variety of catalogs and represents different criteria. Theresults for the whole sample confirm that FIR luminosity and colorcriteria used for these surveys are indeed optimized for findingmegamasers. The results also confirm that detecting distant highluminosity OH megamasers is considerably more successful than findingnearby weak masers.
| A volume-limited sample of IRAS galaxies to 4000 km/s. I - Neutral hydrogen observations from Jodrell Bank
A volume-limited catalog is constructed of normal spiral galaxies withinthe redshift interval 0-4000 km/s and brighter than 1.9 Jy at 60 micronsto study relationships between fundamental galaxy properties and to mapto the peculiar velocity field. Observations of 57 galazies are reportedfrom this sample at Jodrell Bank, 42 of which resulted in detections,and study relationships between far-IR and neutral hydrogen properties.Gas and dynamical or halo mass are well correlated with each other andmoderately so with far IR luminosity. A decrease in dynamical mass withincreasing far-color temperature suggests that less massive, later-typesystems enjoy higher specific star-formation rates.
| Galaxy alignments
Large areas of the sky around the brightest apparent magnitude galaxieshave been examined. In almost every case where they are not crowded byother right galaxies, clearly marked lines of higher red shift galaxieshave been going through, or originating from, the positions of thesebright apparent magnitude galaxies. It is shown that galaxies of about3000 to 5000 km/s red shift define narrow filaments of from 10 to 50 degin length. It is found that galaxies of very bright apparent magnitudetend to occur at the center or ends of these alignments. The 20brightest galaxies in apparent magnitude north of delta = 0 deg areinvestigated here. Of the 14 which are uncrowded by nearby brightgalaxies, a total of 13 have well marked-lines and concentrations offainter, higher red shift galaxies.
| A 1.49 GHz atlas of the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample
The VLA has been used in its A-, B-, C-, and D-configurations to make1.49 GHz maps of sources in both the original and revised IRAS BrightGalaxy Samples of strong extragalactic sources selected at a wavelengthof 60 microns. Integrated 1.49 GHz flux densities were obtained from thelowest resolution maps, and maps were made with higher resolution sothat nearly all of the radio sources have been at least partiallyresolved. Only NGC 1377 was not detected at 1.49 GHz. An atlas ofcontour maps, a table of total flux densities plus other radio sourceparameters, and references to published radio maps are given. Since theinfrared and radio continuum brightness distributions of IR-selectedgalaxies are usually similar, these high-resolution radio maps can beused as substitutes for the unavailable IR maps to indicate the sizesand precise locations of the IR-emitting regions.
| The optical emission-line nebulae of powerful far-infrared galaxies
The narrow-band H-alpha + forbidden N II images of 30 galaxies selectedto have far-IR spectral energy distributions similar to the prototypefar-infrared galaxies (FIRGs) Arp 220, NGC 6240, and M82 have beenanalyzed in order to determine the luminosities, morphologies, andultimate energy source of emission-line nebulae that reside withinpowerful FIRGs. The emission-line nebulae of these IR color-selectedFIRGs as a class are large, with a mean half-light radius of about 1.3kpc and mean maximum diameter of about 16 kpc. They have morphologiesranging from smooth and structureless to highly complex and chaotic,with some showing evidence for ordered structure on scales of a few kpcto tens of kpc. Only about 25 percent of the nearby FIRGs displaymorphologies suggesting that large H II region contribute significantlyto their appearance in H-alpha + forbidden N II.
| A deep redshift survey of IRAS galaxies towards the Bootes void
Redshifts were measured for a complete sample of galaxies detected bythe IRAS within 11.5 deg of the center of the void in Bootes discoveredby Kirshner et al (1981). There are 12 IRAS galaxies within the void asdefined by the above authors, seven of which were discovered in thissurvey. One of these has a companion at the same redshift. The resultingdensity of IRAS galaxies in the void is measured to be between 1/6 and1/3 of the average density; the uncertainty is dominated by Poissonstatistics. Good agreement is found between the selection function andnumber density derived from the present sample and those derived fromthe all-sky sample of Strauss (1989). The optical spectra of the newlyfound galaxies in the void are typical of IRAS galaxies in the field.
| The 12 micron galaxy sample. I - Luminosity functions and a new complete active galaxy sample
An all-sky 12 micron flux-limited sample of active galaxies was selectedfrom the IRAS Point Source Catalog. Most of the sample galaxies are inexisting catalogs, and 99 percent have measured redshifts. The 12-micronand the far-infrared luminosity functions of active and normal galaxiesare derived using IRAS co-added data. A total of 22 percent of thesample galaxies harbor active nuclei. The sample consists almost equallyof Seyfert 1, Seyfert 2, and LINER nuclei. The derived luminosityfuctions for Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies are indistinguishable fromthose of the optically selected CfA sample. Thus, 12 micron selection isthe most efficient available technique for finding complete activegalaxy samples.
| The IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample. IV - Complete IRAS observations
Total flux densities, peak flux densities, and spatial extents at 12,25, 60, and 100 microns are presented for the 330 sources in the IRASBright Galaxy Sample. The flux density ratios Snu (60microns)/Snu (100 microns) and Snu (12microns)/Sn (25 microns) are found to correlate with both theinfrared luminosity and the ratio of IR to visible flux. The relationbetween these two flux density ratios is shown to follow that foundpreviously, with different slopes appearing for the warmer and coldergalaxies in the sample. The results suggest that single photon heatingof small grains (often the dominant source of 12 and 25 micron radiationfrom galaxies) significantly affects the emission of some galaxies at 60microns, and that optical depth effects may alter the emergent radiationat 12 and 25 microns.
| The correlation between far-infrared and non-thermal radio emission at 151 MHz for galaxies - Observations and modelling
Far-infrared (FIR) data from the IRAS survey have been compared with 6Cradio data at 151 MHz, and a slope for the FIR/radio correlation of 0.86+ or - 0.03 is obtained. It is found that the radio emission at 151 MHzis totally dominated by the nonthermal component. Models for the FIRemission from normal spiral galaxies have been developed, showing thatdiscrete SNRs cannot be responsible for the radio emission in eithernormal or starburst galaxies.
| The IRAS bright galaxy sample. II - The sample and luminosity function
A statistically complete sample of 324 of the brightest infraredgalaxies discovered at 60 microns in the IRAS all-sky survey isdescribed. The results show that far-infrared emission is a significantluminosity component in the local universe, representing 25 percent ofthe luminosity emitted by stars in the same volume. Above 10 to the 11thsolar luminosities, the infrared luminous galaxies are the dominantpopulation of objects in the universe, being as numerous as the Seyfertgalaxies and more numerous than quasars at higher luminosities. Theinfrared luminosity appears to be independent of the optical luminosityof galaxies. Most infrared bright galaxies appear to require much of theinterstellar matter to be contributing to the observed infraredluminosity. Approximately 60-80 percent of the far-infrared luminosityof the local universe can be attributed, directly or indirectly, torecent or ongoing star formation.
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