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 An Integrated Spectrophotometric Survey of Nearby Star-forming GalaxiesWe present integrated optical spectrophotometry for a sample of 417nearby galaxies. Our observations consist of spatially integrated,S/N=10-100 spectroscopy between 3600 and 6900 Å at ~8 Å FWHMresolution. In addition, we present nuclear (2.5"×2.5")spectroscopy for 153 of these objects. Our sample targets a diverserange of galaxy types, including starbursts, peculiar galaxies,interacting/merging systems, dusty, infrared-luminous galaxies, and asignificant number of normal galaxies. We use population synthesis tomodel and subtract the stellar continuum underlying the nebular emissionlines. This technique results in emission-line measurements reliablycorrected for stellar absorption. Here we present the integrated andnuclear spectra, the nebular emission-line fluxes and equivalent widths,and a comprehensive compilation of ancillary data available in theliterature for our sample. In a series of subsequent papers we use thesedata to study optical star formation rate indicators, nebular abundancediagnostics, the luminosity-metallicity relation, the dust properties ofnormal and starburst galaxies, and the star formation histories ofinfrared-luminous galaxies. Dark and Baryonic Matter in Bright Spiral Galaxies. I. Near-Infrared and Optical Broadband Surface Photometry of 30 GalaxiesWe present photometrically calibrated images and surface photometry inthe B, V, R, J, H, and K bands of 25, and in the g, r, and K bands offive nearby bright (B0T<12.5 mag) spiralgalaxies with inclinations of 30°-65° spanning the Hubblesequence from Sa to Scd. Data are from The Ohio State University BrightSpiral Galaxy Survey, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and the SloanDigital Sky Survey Second Data Release. Radial surface brightnessprofiles are extracted, and integrated magnitudes are measured from theprofiles. Axis ratios, position angles, and scale lengths are measuredfrom the near-infrared images. A one-dimensional bulge/diskdecomposition is performed on the near-infrared images of galaxies witha nonnegligible bulge component, and an exponential disk is fit to theradial surface brightness profiles of the remaining galaxies.Based in part on observations obtained at the Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory, operated by the Association of Universitiesfor Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with theNational Science Foundation. Constraining Dark Matter Halo Profiles and Galaxy Formation Models Using Spiral Arm Morphology. I. Method OutlineWe investigate the use of spiral arm pitch angles as a probe of diskgalaxy mass profiles. We confirm our previous result that spiral armpitch angles (P) are well correlated with the rate of shear (S) in diskgalaxy rotation curves by using a much larger sample (51 galaxies) thanused previously (17 galaxies). We use this correlation to argue thatimaging data alone can provide a powerful probe of galactic massdistributions out to large look-back times. In contrast to previouswork, we show that observed spiral arm pitch angles are similar whenmeasured in the optical (at 0.4 μm) and the near-infrared (at 2.1μm) with a mean difference of 2.3d+/-2.7d. This is then used tostrengthen the known correlation between P and S using B-band images. Wethen use two example galaxies to demonstrate how an inferred shear ratecoupled with a bulge-disk decomposition model and a Tully-Fisher-derivedvelocity normalization can be used to place constraints on a galaxy'sbaryon fraction and dark matter halo profile. We show that ESO 582-G12,a galaxy with a high shear rate (slightly declining rotation curve) at~10 kpc, favors an adiabatically contracted halo, with high initial NFWconcentration (cvir>16) and a high fraction of halobaryons in the form of stars (~15%-40%). In contrast, IC 2522 has a lowshear rate (rising rotation curve) at ~10 kpc and favorsnonadiabatically contracted models with low NFW concentrations(cvir~=2-8) and a low stellar baryon fraction <10%. Dark and Baryonic Matter in Bright Spiral Galaxies. II. Radial Distributions for 34 GalaxiesWe decompose the rotation curves of 34 bright spiral galaxies intobaryonic and dark matter components. Stellar mass profiles are createdby applying color-M/L relations to near-infrared and optical photometry.We find that the radial profile of the baryonic-to-dark-matter ratio isself-similar for all galaxies, when scaled to the radius at which thecontribution of the baryonic mass to the rotation curve equals that ofthe dark matter (RX). We argue that this is due to thequasi-exponential nature of disks and rotation curves that are nearlyflat after an initial rise. The radius RX is found tocorrelate most strongly with baryonic rotation speed, such that galaxieswith RX measurements that lie further out in their disksrotate faster. This quantity also correlates very strongly with stellarmass, Hubble type, and observed rotation speed; B-band central surfacebrightness is less related to RX than these other galaxyproperties. Most of the galaxies in our sample appear to be close tomaximal disk. For these galaxies, we find that maximum observed rotationspeeds are tightly correlated with maximum rotation speeds predictedfrom the baryon distributions, such that one can create a Tully-Fisherrelation based on surface photometry and redshifts alone. Finally, wecompare our data to the NFW parameterization for dark matter profileswith and without including adiabatic contraction as it is most commonlyimplemented. Fits are generally poor, and all but two galaxies arebetter fit if adiabatic contraction is not performed. In order to havebetter fits, and especially to accommodate adiabatic contraction,baryons would need to contribute very little to the total mass in theinner parts of galaxies, seemingly in contrast with other observationalconstraints. Massive star formation in the central regions of spiral galaxiesContext: . The morphology of massive star formation in the centralregions of galaxies is an important tracer of the dynamical processesthat govern the evolution of disk, bulge, and nuclear activity. Aims. Wepresent optical imaging of the central regions of a sample of 73 spiralgalaxies in the Hα line and in optical broad bands, and deriveinformation on the morphology of massive star formation. Methods. Weobtained images with the William Herschel Telescope, mostly at a spatialresolution of below one second of arc. For most galaxies, no Hαimaging is available in the literature. We outline the observing anddata reduction procedures, list basic properties, and present the I-bandand continuum-subtracted Hα images. We classify the morphology ofthe nuclear and circumnuclear Hα emission and explore trends withhost galaxy parameters. Results. We confirm that late-type galaxies havea patchy circumnuclear appearance in Hα, and that nuclear ringsoccur primarily in spiral types Sa-Sbc. We identify a number ofpreviously unknown nuclear rings, and confirm that nuclear rings arepredominantly hosted by barred galaxies. Conclusions. Other than instimulating nuclear rings, bars do not influence the relative strengthof the nuclear Hα peak, nor the circumnuclear Hα morphology.Even considering that our selection criteria led to an over-abundance ofgalaxies with close massive companions, we do not find any significantinfluence of the presence or absence of a close companion on therelative strength of the nuclear Hα peak, nor on the Hαmorphology around the nucleus. Some astronomical niches with 3D spectroscopyAn overview of some of the most interesting results obtained with theuse of 3D spectrometers working in 4m-class telescopes is given with thepurpose of taking advantage of those experiences in the definition ofscientific programs for telescopes of larger diameter as the GTC. Dust in spiral galaxies: global propertiesWe present and analyse high-quality Submillimetre Common-User BolometerArray (SCUBA) 850- and 450-μm images of 14 local spiral galaxies,including the detection of dust well out into the extended disc in manycases. We use these data in conjunction with published far-infrared fluxdensities from IRAS and ISO, and millimetre-wave measurements fromground-based facilities to deduce the global properties of the dust inthese galaxies, in particular temperature and mass. We find that simpletwo-temperature greybody models of fixed dust emissivity index β= 2and with typical temperatures of 25 < Twarm < 40 K and10 < Tcold < 20 K provide good fits to the overallspectral energy distributions. The dust mass in the cold componentcorrelates with the mass in atomic hydrogen and the mass in the warmcomponent correlates with the mass in molecular hydrogen. These resultsthus fit the simple picture in which the cold dust is heatedpredominantly by the interstellar radiation field, while the hot dust isheated predominantly by OB stars in more active regions, although weargue that there is some mixing. The mean gas-to-dust mass ratio is 120+/- 60, very similar to that found within our own galaxy and roughly afactor of 10 lower than that derived from IRAS data alone. Thegas-to-dust mass ratios in the warm, molecular component are on averagehigher than those in the cold, atomic component. We compare ourmodelling results with similar results for more luminous spiral galaxiesselected at far-infrared wavelengths by the SCUBA Local Universe GalaxySurvey. We find that whilst the total dust mass distributions of the twosamples are indistinguishable, they have significantly different dusttemperature distributions in both the warm and cold components. Wesuggest that this difference might be related to the level of starformation activity in these systems, with the more active galaxieshaving more intense interstellar radiation fields and higher dusttemperatures. On the Relevance of the Tremaine-Weinberg Method Applied to an Hα Velocity Field: Pattern Speed Determination in M100 (NGC 4321)The relevance of the Tremaine-Weinberg (TW) method is tested formeasuring bar, spiral, and inner structure pattern speeds using agaseous velocity field. The TW method is applied to various simulatedbarred galaxies in order to demonstrate its validity in seven differentconfigurations, including star formation and/or dark matter halo. Thereliability of the different physical processes involved and of thevarious observational parameters is also tested. The simulations showthat the TW method could be applied to gaseous velocity fields to get agood estimate of the bar pattern speed, under the condition that regionsof shocks are avoided and measurements are confined to regions where thegaseous bar is well formed. We successfully apply the TW method to theHα velocity field of the Virgo Cluster galaxy M100 (NGC 4321) andderive pattern speeds of 55+/-5 km s-1 kpc-1 forthe nuclear structure, 30+/-2 km s-1 kpc-1 for thebar, and 20+/-1 km s-1 kpc-1 for the spiralpattern, in full agreement with published determinations using the samemethod or alternative ones. The Distribution of Bar and Spiral Arm Strengths in Disk GalaxiesThe distribution of bar strengths in disk galaxies is a fundamentalproperty of the galaxy population that has only begun to be explored. Wehave applied the bar-spiral separation method of Buta and coworkers toderive the distribution of maximum relative gravitational bar torques,Qb, for 147 spiral galaxies in the statistically well-definedOhio State University Bright Galaxy Survey (OSUBGS) sample. Our goal isto examine the properties of bars as independently as possible of theirassociated spirals. We find that the distribution of bar strengthdeclines smoothly with increasing Qb, with more than 40% ofthe sample having Qb<=0.1. In the context of recurrent barformation, this suggests that strongly barred states are relativelyshort-lived compared to weakly barred or nonbarred states. We do notfind compelling evidence for a bimodal distribution of bar strengths.Instead, the distribution is fairly smooth in the range0.0<=Qb<0.8. Our analysis also provides a first look atspiral strengths Qs in the OSUBGS sample, based on the sametorque indicator. We are able to verify a possible weak correlationbetween Qs and Qb, in the sense that galaxies withthe strongest bars tend to also have strong spirals. Nuclear Properties of Nearby Spiral Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Imaging and STIS SpectroscopyWe investigate the central regions of 23 spiral galaxies using SpaceTelescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) spectroscopy and archivalNear-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) imaging. Thesample is taken from our program to determine the masses of centralmassive black holes (MBHs) in 54 nearby spiral galaxies. Stars arelikely to contribute significantly to any dynamical central massconcentration that we find in our MBH program, and this paper is part ofa series to investigate the nuclear properties of these galaxies. We usethe Nuker law to fit surface brightness profiles, derived from theNICMOS images, to look for nuclear star clusters and find possibleextended sources in three of the 23 galaxies studied (13%). The factthat this fraction is lower than that inferred from optical Hubble SpaceTelescope studies is probably due to the greater spatial resolution ofthose studies. Using R-H and J-H colors and equivalent widths ofHα emission (from the STIS spectra), we investigate the nature ofthe stellar population with evolutionary models. Under the assumption ofhot stars ionizing the gas, as opposed to a weak active galactic nucleus(AGN), we find that there are young stellar populations (~10-20 Myr);however, these data do not allow us to determine what percentage of thetotal nuclear stellar population they form. In addition, in an attemptto find any unknown AGN, we use [N II] and [S II] line flux ratios(relative to Hα) and find tentative evidence for weak AGNs in NGC1300 and NGC 4536.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc.,under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. Effects of photon escape on diagnostic diagrams for H II regionsIn this article we first outline the mounting evidence that asignificant fraction of the ionizing photons emitted by OB stars withinH ii regions escape from their immediate surroundings, i.e from what isnormally defined as the H ii region, and explain how an H ii regionstructure containing high density contrast inhomogeneities facilitatesthis escape. Next we describe sets of models containing inhomogeneitieswhich are used to predict tracks in the commonly used diagnosticdiagrams (based on ratios of emission lines) whose only independentvariable is the photon escape fraction, ξ. We show that the tracksproduced by the models in two of the most cited of these diagramsconform well to the distribution of observed data points, with themodels containing optically thick inhomogeneities (“CLUMPY”models) yielding somewhat better agreement than those with opticallythin inhomogeneities (“FF” models). We show how variationsin the ionization parameter U, derived from emission line ratios, couldbe due to photon escape, such that for a given region from which 50% ofits ionizing photons leak out we would derive the same value of U as fora region with no photon escape but with an input ionizing flux almost anorder of magnitude higher. This effect will occur whether the individualinhomogeneities are optically thick or thin. Photon escape will alsolead to a change in the derived value of the radiation hardnessparameter, and this change differs significantly between models withoptically thin and optically thick clumps. Using a rather wide range ofassumptions about the filling factor of dense clumps we find, for aselected set of regions observed in M 51 by Díaz et al. (1991) anextreme limiting range of computed photon escape fractions between nearzero and 90%, but with the most plausible values ranging between 30% and50%. We show, using oxygen as the test element, that models withdifferent assumptions about the gas inhomogeneity will tend to givevariations in the abundance values derived from diagnostic diagrams, butdo not claim here to have a fully developed set of diagnostic tools toimprove abundance determinations made in this way. We do present animportant step towards an eventual improvement in abundancedeterminations: the combination of line ratios with the absoluteHα luminosity of a given H ii region, which allows us to determinethe photon escape fraction, and hence resolve the degeneracy between Uand ξ. We use observational data of this type show that a large setof H ii regions in M 101 observed by Cedrés & Cepa (2002) allshow significant photon escape with values of ξ ranging up to 60% inthe “leakiest” cases. Bar-induced perturbation strengths of the galaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey - IBar-induced perturbation strengths are calculated for a well-definedmagnitude-limited sample of 180 spiral galaxies, based on the Ohio StateUniversity Bright Galaxy Survey. We use a gravitational torque method,the ratio of the maximal tangential force to the mean axisymmetricradial force, as a quantitative measure of the bar strength. Thegravitational potential is inferred from an H-band light distribution byassuming that the M/L ratio is constant throughout the disc. Galaxiesare deprojected using orientation parameters based on B-band images. Inorder to eliminate artificial stretching of the bulge, two-dimensionalbar-bulge-disc decomposition has been used to derive a reliable bulgemodel. This bulge model is subtracted from an image, the disc isdeprojected assuming it is thin, and then the bulge is added back byassuming that its mass distribution is spherically symmetric. We findthat removing the artificial bulge stretch is important especially forgalaxies having bars inside large bulges. We also find that the massesof the bulges can be significantly overestimated if bars are not takeninto account in the decomposition.Bars are identified using Fourier methods by requiring that the phasesof the main modes (m= 2, m= 4) are maintained nearly constant in the barregion. With such methods, bars are found in 65 per cent of the galaxiesin our sample, most of them being classified as SB-type systems in thenear-infrared by Eskridge and co-workers. We also suggest that as muchas ~70 per cent of the galaxies classified as SAB-types in thenear-infrared might actually be non-barred systems, many of them havingcentral ovals. It is also possible that a small fraction of the SAB-typegalaxies have weak non-classical bars with spiral-like morphologies. Amplitude of Spiral Arms and Dark MatterRelative amplitudes and pitch angles for the main two-armed spiralstructure in a sample of 54 non-barred spiral galaxies were estimatedfrom K band photometry. A lack of strong, tight patterns was observedwhich may be caused by non-linear dynamic effects. Assuming that theupper envelope corresponds to a relative radial forcing of 5%, onecan estimate the perturbation of the total potential. This suggeststhat a maximum disk solution is adequate to account for the forceperturbation and that no additional dark matter is required. Star Formation and the Kinematics of Gas in the Disk of NGC 628The radial profile of the star-formation rate (SFR) in the galaxy NGC628 is shown to be modulated by a spiral-density wave. The radialprofile of the velocity of gas inflow into the spiral arm is similar tothe radial distribution of the surface density of the SFR. The positionof the corotation resonance is determined along with other parameters ofthe spiral-density wave via a Fourier analysis of the azimuthaldistribution of the observed radial velocities in annular zones of thedisk of NGC 628. The radial profile of the surface density of the SFR isdetermined using the empirical SFRlinear size relation forstar-formation complexes (giant HII regions) and measurements of thecoordinates, Hα fluxes, and the sizes of HII regions in NGC 628. Nuclear Properties of a Sample of Nearby Spiral Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope STIS ImagingWe present surface photometry for the central regions of a sample of 48spiral galaxies (mostly unbarred and barred of type Sbc or Sc) observedwith the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble SpaceTelescope. Surface brightness profiles (SBPs) were derived and modeledwith a Nuker law. We also analyzed archival Wide Field Planetary Camera2 images with a larger field of view, which are available for 18galaxies in our sample. We modeled the extracted bulge SBPs with anexponential, an r1/4, or an rn profile. Inagreement with previous studies, we find that bulges of Sbc galaxiesfall into two categories: bulges well described by an exponentialprofile and those well described by an r1/4 profile. Only onegalaxy requires the use of a more general Sérsic profile toproperly describe the bulge. Nuclear photometrically distinct componentsare found in ~55% of the galaxies. For those that we classify as starclusters on the basis of their resolved extent, we find absolutemagnitudes that are brighter on average than those previously identifiedin spiral galaxies. This might be due to a bias in our sample towardstar-forming galaxies, combined with a trend for star-forming galaxiesto host brighter central clusters.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS 5-26555. Inner-truncated Disks in GalaxiesWe present an analysis of the disk brightness profiles of 218 spiral andlenticular galaxies. At least 28% of disk galaxies exhibit innertruncations in these profiles. There are no significant trends oftruncation incidence with Hubble type, but the incidence among barredsystems is 49%, more than 4 times that for nonbarred galaxies. However,not all barred systems have inner truncations, and not allinner-truncated systems are currently barred. Truncations represent areal dearth of disk stars in the inner regions and are not an artifactof our selection or fitting procedures nor the result of obscuration bydust. Disk surface brightness profiles in the outer regions are wellrepresented by simple exponentials for both truncated and nontruncateddisks. However, truncated and nontruncated systems have systematicallydifferent slopes and central surface brightness parameters for theirdisk brightness distributions. Truncation radii do not appear tocorrelate well with the sizes or brightnesses of the bulges. Thissuggests that the low angular momentum material apparently missing fromthe inner disk was not simply consumed in forming the bulge population.Disk parameters and the statistics of bar orientations in our sampleindicate that the missing stars of the inner disk have not simply beenredistributed azimuthally into bar structures. The sharpness of thebrightness truncations and their locations with respect to othergalactic structures suggest that resonances associated with diskkinematics, or tidal interactions with the mass of bulge stars, might beresponsible for this phenomenon. Spiral galaxies observed in the near-infrared K band. I. Data analysis and structural parametersDeep surface photometry in the K band was obtained for 54 normal spiralgalaxies, with the aim of quantifying the percentage of faint bars andstudying the morphology of spiral arms. The sample was chosen to cover awider range of morphological types while inclination angles anddistances were limited to allow a detailed investigation of the internalstructure of their disks and future observations and studies of the diskkinematics. An additional constraint for a well defined subsample wasthat no bar structure was seen on images in the visual bands. Accuratesky projection parameters were determined from the K maps comparingseveral different methods. The surface brightness distribution wasdecomposed into axisymmetric components while bars and spiral structureswere analyzed using Fourier techniques.Bulges were best represented by a Sérsic r1/n law withan index in the typical range of 1-2. The central surface brightness ofthe exponential disk and bulge-to-disk ratio only showed weakcorrelation with Hubble type. Indications of a central point source werefound in many of the galaxies. An additional central, steep, exponentialdisk improved the fit for more than 80% of the galaxies suggesting thatmany of the bulges are oblate.Bars down to the detection level at a relative amplitude of 3% weredetected in 26 of 30 galaxies in a subsample classified as ordinary SAspirals. This would correspond to only 5% of all spiral galaxies beingnon-barred at this level. In several cases, bars are significantlyoffset compared to the starting points of the main spiral pattern whichindicates that bar and spiral have different pattern speeds. A smallfraction (10%) of the sample has complex central structuresconsisting of several sets of bars, arcs or spirals.A majority of the galaxies (60%) displays a two-armed, grand-designspiral pattern in their inner parts which often breaks up into multiplearms in their outer regions. Phase shifts between the inner and outerpatterns suggest in some cases that they belong to different spiralmodes. The pitch angles of the main two-armed symmetric spiral patternin the galaxies have a typical range of 5-30 °. The sample shows alack of strong, tight spirals which could indicate that such patternsare damped by non-linear, dynamical effects due to their high radialforce perturbations.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile; programs: ESO 63.N-0343, 65.N-0287, 66.N-0257.Table 2 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/423/849Appendix A is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org The ISOPHOT 170 μm Serendipity Survey II. The catalog of optically identified galaxies%The ISOPHOT Serendipity Sky Survey strip-scanning measurements covering≈15% of the far-infrared (FIR) sky at 170 μm were searched forcompact sources associated with optically identified galaxies. CompactSerendipity Survey sources with a high signal-to-noise ratio in at leasttwo ISOPHOT C200 detector pixels were selected that have a positionalassociation with a galaxy identification in the NED and/or Simbaddatabases and a galaxy counterpart visible on the Digitized Sky Surveyplates. A catalog with 170 μm fluxes for more than 1900 galaxies hasbeen established, 200 of which were measured several times. The faintest170 μm fluxes reach values just below 0.5 Jy, while the brightest,already somewhat extended galaxies have fluxes up to ≈600 Jy. For thevast majority of listed galaxies, the 170 μm fluxes were measured forthe first time. While most of the galaxies are spirals, about 70 of thesources are classified as ellipticals or lenticulars. This is the onlycurrently available large-scale galaxy catalog containing a sufficientnumber of sources with 170 μm fluxes to allow further statisticalstudies of various FIR properties.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments fundedby ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, TheNetherlands and the UK) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.Members of the Consortium on the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (CISS) areMPIA Heidelberg, ESA ISO SOC Villafranca, AIP Potsdam, IPAC Pasadena,Imperial College London.Full Table 4 and Table 6 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/422/39 Deprojecting spiral galaxies using Fourier analysis. Application to the Ohio sampleWe use two new methods developed recently (Barberàet al.\cite{bar03}, A&A, 415, 849), as well as information obtained fromthe literature, to calculate the orientation parameters of the spiralgalaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey. We comparethe results of these methods with data from the literature, and find ingeneral good agreement. We provide a homogeneous set of mean orientationparameters which can be used to approximately deproject the disks of thegalaxies and facilitate a number of statistical studies of galaxyproperties.Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/421/595 Minor-axis velocity gradients in disk galaxiesWe present the ionized-gas kinematics and photometry of a sample of 4spiral galaxies which are characterized by a zero-velocity plateau alongthe major axis and a velocity gradient along the minor axis,respectively. By combining these new kinematical data with thoseavailable in the literature for the ionized-gas component of the S0s andspirals listed in the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog of Bright Galaxies werealized that about 50% of unbarred galaxies show a remarkable gasvelocity gradient along the optical minor axis. This fraction rises toabout 60% if we include unbarred galaxies with an irregular velocityprofile along the minor axis. This phenomenon is observed all along theHubble sequence of disk galaxies, and it is particularly frequent inearly-type spirals. Since minor-axis velocity gradients are unexpectedif the gas is moving onto circular orbits in a disk coplanar to thestellar one, we conclude that non-circular and off-plane gas motions arenot rare in the inner regions of disk galaxies.Based on observations carried out at the European Southern Observatoryin La Silla (Chile) (ESO 69.B-0706 and 70.B-0338), with the MultipleMirror Telescope which is a joint facility of the SmithsonianInstitution and the University of Arizona, and with the ItalianTelescopio Nazionale Galileo (AOT-5, 3-18) at the Observatorio del Roquede los Muchachos in La Palma (Spain).Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org. Table 5 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/416/507 Progress in the Study of Galaxies: Structures, Collective Phenomena and MethodsThe review contains the important achievements in dynamics of thegalactic disks. Among them there are I. New structures discoveredrecently: • giant vortices (including giant anticyclone in theSolar vicinity); • slow bar; • inner oscillating structurewithin spiral arms similar that of enveloped soliton; • chaoticstreamlines in the velocity field of the gaseous disk of a real galaxy.II. New collective phenomina discovered recently: • newoverreflection instability initiating ‘mini-spiral’ in theinnermost central parsec of Galaxy; • large-scale convection causedby nonlinear interaction of density wave with disk gas; •non-kolmogorovian spectrum of weak turbulence corresponding to theobserved one in the • Solar vicinity. III. New methods worked outrecently: • reconstruction of full three-dimensional vector fieldof gas velocity from the observed line-of- • sight velocity field;• observational test for verification of the wave-nature of thespiral arms; • observational test to distinguish two types ofvertical motions: warp and z-motions in the • density wave; •derivation of correct system of two-dimensional dynamical equations fromthe initial three- • dimensional one. Emission line ratio mapping with OSIRISWe outline two complementary applications of the tunable filter systemin OSIRIS for research on external galaxies: diagnostics of the diffuseionized gas in face-on and in edge-on objects, giving illustrations fornearby galaxies, and discussing projected observations at intermediateand high redshift. Mission: impossible (escape from the Lyman limit)We investigate the intrinsic opacity of high-redshift galaxies tooutgoing ionizing photons using high-quality photometry of a sample of27 spectroscopically identified galaxies of redshift 1.9 < z < 3.5in the Hubble Deep Field. Our measurement is based on maximum-likelihoodfitting of model galaxy spectral energy distributions - including theeffects of intrinsic Lyman-limit absorption and random realizations ofintervening Lyman-series and Lyman-limit absorption - to photometry ofgalaxies from space- and ground-based broad-band images. Our methodprovides several important advantages over the methods used by previousgroups, including most importantly that two-dimensional sky subtractionof faint-galaxy images is more robust than one-dimensional skysubtraction of faint-galaxy spectra. We find at the 3σstatisticalconfidence level that on average no more than 4 per cent of the ionizingphotons escape galaxies of redshift 1.9 < z < 3.5. This result isconsistent with observations of low- and moderate-redshift galaxies butis in direct contradiction to a recent result based on medium-resolutionspectroscopy of high-redshift (z~ 3) galaxies. Dividing our sample intosubsamples according to luminosity, intrinsic ultraviolet colour andredshift, we find no evidence for selection effects that could explainsuch a discrepancy. Even when all systematic effects are included, thedata could not realistically accommodate any escape fraction valuelarger than ~15 per cent. Morphological and Kinematic Properties of Disk Galaxies Perturbed by a SatelliteWe present detailed numerical N-body simulations of the dynamicalinteraction of disk galaxies embedded in a spherical halo of dark matterand an orbiting satellite, in order to study the relationship betweenthe kinematics and the stellar distribution of the disk. The satelliteis held on a fixed, coplanar, eccentric (e=1/3), or nearly circular(e=0.02) orbit. It is shown that the density wave mode m=1 has anaverage phase angle shift of about 30° from the positive tangentialvelocity wave mode m=1 but presents greater values just after thepericentric satellite passage. It is also shown that the density m=2coincides (within 10° on average) with the positive tangentialvelocity wave mode m=2. The pattern speeds obtained from the density andthe three velocity component distributions are the same. The asymmetryparameter (A) derived from the stellar distribution agrees with theasymmetry parameter derived from the velocity field. TheA(180deg) mode is dominant in comparison toA(90deg) when we consider the center of mass of the disk.However, this behavior is reversed when we calculate the asymmetry usingthe center of density of the disk or center of maximum luminosity. H II Regions in Spiral Galaxies: Size Distribution, Luminosity Function, and New Isochrone Diagnostics of Density-Wave KinematicsWe investigate the relationship of the H II region luminosity function(H II LF) to the H II region size distribution and density-wavetriggering in grand-design spiral galaxies. We suggest that thedifferential nebular size distribution is described by a power lawapproximately of slope -4, with flattening at radii below ~130 pc. Thiscontrasts with the conventional exponential description, but it isphysically and quantitatively consistent with the typical observed valueof -2 for the H II LF slope. To study H II LF evolution, we havedeveloped an interactive code that computes spatial isochrones for theevolving loci of spiral density waves in disk galaxies. This allowscomparison of the nebular spatial distribution with the spatialisochrones for simple rotation curve parameters. Our comparisons forfour grand-design galaxies suggest that the corotation radiusrco coincides with the outer ends of the star-forming arms.This value for rco yields the best spatial correspondencebetween the H II regions and the isochrones and also appears to yield acoincidence between the inner Lindblad resonance with the radial onsetof star formation in the arms. Thus, we suggest that isochrones offer anew, simple, and effective technique for determining rco andthus the spiral pattern speed. However, application of the isochronesalso demonstrates that the evolution of the nebular population isdifficult to spatially isolate in these galaxies. The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy SampleIRAS 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 thecharacteristic'' 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 Atlas of Hubble Space Telescope Spectra and Images of Nearby Spiral GalaxiesWe have observed 54 nearby spiral galaxies with the Space TelescopeImaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope to obtainoptical long-slit spectra of nuclear gas disks and STIS optical (~Rband) images of the central 5''×5'' of thegalaxies. These spectra are being used to determine the velocity fieldof nuclear disks and hence to detect the presence of central massiveblack holes. Here we present the spectra for the successfulobservations. Dust obscuration can be significant at opticalwavelengths, and so we also combine the STIS images with archivalNear-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer H-band images toproduce color maps to investigate the morphology of gas and dust in thecentral regions. We find a great variety in the different morphologies,from smooth distributions to well-defined nuclear spirals and dustlanes.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS5-26555. The far-infrared/radio correlation in the ISO era. The warm and cold far-infrared/radio correlationsWe present the correlation between the far-infrared (FIR) and radioemissions from a composite sample of 72 nearby normal galaxies observedwith the ISOPHOT instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory. Thegalaxies in the sample have measurements at three FIR wavelengths (60,100 and 170 mu m), which allowed a direct determination of the warm andcold FIR emission components. This is the first time that thecorrelation has been established for the total FIR luminosity, of whichmost is carried by the cold dust component predominantly emittinglongwards of the spectral coverage of IRAS. The slope of thiscorrelation is slightly non-linear (1.10+/- 0.03). Separate correlationsbetween the warm and cold FIR emission components and the radio emissionhave also been derived. The slope of the warm FIR/radio correlation wasfound to be linear (1.03 +/- 0.03). For the cold FIR/radio correlationwe found a slightly non-linear (1.13 +/- 0.04) slope. We qualitativelyinterpret the correlations in terms of star formation rate and find thatboth the FIR and radio emissions may be consistent with a non-lineardependence on star formation rate for galaxies not undergoing starburstactivity.Based on observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), an ESAproject with instruments funded by ESA member States (especially the PIcountries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the UK) and with theparticipation of ISAS and NASA.Table \ref{Tab2} and Appendices A and B are only available in electronicform at http://www.edpsciences.org A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxiesWe have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of normality''. Thedefinition of a normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5 The nature of arms in spiral galaxies. II. The sampleWe present here the results of an imaging study of eight grand-designand two intermediate-arm galaxies, based on CCD observations in U, B, V,R and I. We give grey-scale images, both in individual and in colourindices. Also we present a decomposition into bulge and disc followingan iterative method. This provides us with a reasonable estimate of thebulge size and disc scale length, and shows the disc deviation from anexponential law, which can be interpreted as due to the long-term starformation caused by the spiral arms. To evaluate the contribution of thespiral arms to the disc luminosity distribution, with the aid of a maskwe have decomposed each image into two parts: arms (which include bulgeand nucleus, and eventually bars) and inter-arms (which include theouter disc).In subsequent papers in this series (del Río & Cepa\cite{del1998}, hereafter Paper III; del Río & Cepa\cite{del1999}, hereafter Paper IV) the data presented here are used toanalyse the spiral structure of the galaxies of the sample, using themethods of Beckman & Cepa (\cite{Beckman}, hereafter Paper I) andthe Fourier transform method to find the different symmetry degrees.Figures 1 to 4 and Fig. 7 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org}
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