Bibcode
DOI
Méndez-Abreu, J.; Corsini, E. M.; Debattista, Victor P.; De Rijcke, S.; Aguerri, J. A. L.; Pizzella, A.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 679, Issue 2, pp. L73-L76.
Advertised on:
6
2008
Journal
Citations
56
Refereed citations
50
Description
We present the results of high-resolution absorption-line spectroscopy
of three face-on galaxies, NGC 98, NGC 600, and NGC 1703, with the aim
of searching for box/peanut (B/P) shaped bulges. These observations test
and confirm, for the first time, the prediction that face-on B/P-shaped
bulges can be recognized by two minima in the profile along the bar's
major axis of the fourth Gauss-Hermite moment h4 of the
line-of-sight velocity distribution (LOSVD). In NGC 98, a clear double
minimum in h4 is present along the major axis of the bar and
before the end of the bar, as predicted. In contrast, in NGC 600, which
is also a barred galaxy but lacks a substantial bulge, we do not find
any significant kinematic signature for a B/P-shaped bulge. In NGC 1703,
which is an unbarred control galaxy, we found no evidence of a B/P
bulge. We also show directly that the LOSVD is broader at the location
of the h4 minimum in NGC 98 than elsewhere. This more direct
method avoids possible artifacts associated with the degeneracy between
the measurement of LOSVD and h4.
Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,
Chile (ESO No. 76.B-0324(A)).
Related projects
Galaxy Evolution in Clusters of Galaxies
Galaxies in the universe can be located in different environments, some of them are isolated or in low density regions and they are usually called field galaxies. The others can be located in galaxy associations, going from loose groups to clusters or even superclusters of galaxies. One of the foremost challenges of the modern Astrophysics is to
Jairo
Méndez Abreu