Optical luminosity functions for compact groups of galaxies

Sulentic, J. W.; Rabaça, C. R.

doi:10.1086/174340

Cited by 35 publications

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“…Evidence that: 1) components of such pairs are twice as bright as isolated galaxies of similar types and 2) interacting pairs comprise 10% of the field galaxy population suggests that this contamination can confuse our interpretation of an environment signature in this kind of sample (see I/A = y sample in Table 6). Stocke et al (2004) argue for a luminous "fossil" elliptical population in the CIG in contradiction to an earlier study (Sulentic & Rabaca 1994). We disagree for two reasons: 1) problems with morphologies and 2) misinterpretation of the OLF comparison sample.…”

Section: Comparison Of Morphology Dependent Cig Olf With Other Samplescontrasting

confidence: 77%

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies

Sulentic

Verdes–Montenegro²,

Bergond

et al. 2006

A&A

138

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We present a refinement of the optical morphologies for galaxies in the Catalog of Isolated Galaxies that forms the basis of the AMIGA (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated GAlaxies) project. Uniform reclassification using the digitized POSS II data benefited from the high resolution and dynamic range of that sky survey. Comparison with independent classifications made for an SDSS overlap sample of more than 200 galaxies confirms the reliability of the early vs. late-type discrimination and the accuracy of spiral subtypes within ∆T = 1-2. CCD images taken at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada were also used to solve ambiguities in early versus late-type classifications. A considerable number of galaxies in the catalog (n = 193) are flagged for the presence of nearby companions or signs of distortion likely due to interaction. This most isolated sample of galaxies in the local Universe is dominated by two populations: 1) 82% are spirals (Sa-Sd) with the bulk being luminous systems with small bulges (63% between types Sb-Sc) and 2) a significant population of early-type E-S0 galaxies (14%). Most of the types later than Sd are low luminosity galaxies concentrated in the local supercluster where isolation is difficult to evaluate. The late-type spiral majority of the sample spans a luminosity range M B−corr = −18 to −22 mag. Few of the E/S0 population are more luminous than −21.0 marking the absence of the often-sought super L * merger (e.g. fossil elliptical) population. The rarity of high luminosity systems results in a fainter derived M * for this population compared to the spiral optical luminosity function (OLF). The E-S0 population is from 0.2 to 0.6 mag fainter depending on how the sample is defined. This marks the AMIGA sample as unique among samples that compare early and late-type OLFs separately. In other samples, which always involve galaxies in higher density environments, M * E/S0 is almost always 0.3-0.5 mag brighter than M * S , presumably reflecting a stronger correlation between M * and environmental density for early-type galaxies.

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Section: Comparison Of Morphology Dependent Cig Olf With Other Samplescontrasting

confidence: 77%

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies

Sulentic

Verdes–Montenegro²,

Bergond

et al. 2006

A&A

138

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“…N-body simulations suggest that compact configurations resembling HCGs are continually forming during the collapse of rich loose groups. Furthermore, a plot of group magnitude vs. group diameter (Sulentic & Rabaça 1994) for both loose groups from the CfA survey (Geller & Huchra 1983) and HCGs shows a very smooth transition in parameter space from one sample to the other.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Previously determined luminosity functions of compact groups (Heiligman & Turner 1980, Mendes de Oliveira & Hickson 1991, Sulentic & Rabaça 1994, Ribeiro et al 1994, Zepf et al 1997) have yielded faint end slopes of α = 0.0, α = −0.2 ± 0.9, α = −1.13 ± 0.13, α = −0.82 ± 0.09, and α = −1.0, respec-tively. Some of these values are flatter than that observed in either clusters (−1.4 < α < −1.0; Ferguson & Sandage 1991) or the field (α ∼ −1.0; Loveday et al 1992, Marzke et al 1994, Ratcliffe et al 1998) implying fewer dwarfs per giant in compact groups than in the other environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in Compact Groups

Hunsberger

Charlton

Zaritsky

2000

International Astronomical Union Colloquium

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From R-band images of 39 Hickson compact groups (HCGs), we use galaxy counts to determine a luminosity function extending to M R = −14.0 + 5 log h 75 , approximately two magnitudes deeper than previous compact group luminosity functions. We find that a single Schechter function (Schechter 1976) is a poor fit (χ 2 ν > 4) to the data, so we fit a composite function consisting of separate Schechter functions for the bright and faint galaxies. The bright end is best fit with M * = −21.6 and α = −0.52 and the faint end with M * = −16.1 and α = −1.17. The decreasing bright end slope implies a deficit of intermediate luminosity galaxies in our sample of HCGs and the faint end slope is slightly steeper than that reported for earlier HCG luminosity functions. Furthermore, luminosity functions of subsets of our sample reveal more substantial dwarf populations for groups with x-ray halos, groups with tidal dwarf candidates, and groups with a dominant elliptical or lenticular galaxy. Collectively, these results support the hypothesis that within compact groups, the initial dwarf galaxy population is replenished by "subsequent generations" formed in the tidal debris of giant galaxy interactions.

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“…The difference from a Schechter fit typically starts to be noticeable above 10 11 L . Sulentic & Rabaca (1994) earlier pointed out the difficulty with using a Schechter function to adequately describe nurture-affected samples. With only three galaxies above log(L FIR /L ) = 11.0, our sample is well fit by a Schechter function.…”

Section: Fir Luminosity Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies

Lisenfeld

Verdes–Montenegro

Sulentic

et al. 2006

A&A

110

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Aims. We describe the mid-(MIR) and far-(FIR) infrared properties of a large (∼1000) sample of the most isolated galaxies in the local Universe. This sample is intended as a "nurture-free" zero point against which more environmentally influenced samples can be compared. Methods. We reprocess IRAS MIR/FIR survey data using the ADDSCAN/SCANPI utility for 1030 out of 1050 galaxies from the Catalogue of Isolated Galaxies (CIG) as part of the AMIGA project. We focus on diagnostics (FIR luminosity L FIR , R = log(L FIR /L B ), and IRAS colours) thought to be sensitive to effects of environment or interaction.Results. The distribution of log(L FIR ) sharply peaks from 9.0-10.5, with very few (<2%) galaxies above 10.5. Review of available optical images of the most FIR luminous galaxies finds the majority likely to be interacting systems missed in our earlier morphological reevaluation. The optically normalised luminosity diagnostic R = log(L FIR /L B ) shows a sharply peaked distribution between 0.0 and −1.0. These results were compared to the magnitude limited sample of the Center for Astrophysics that was selected without environmental discrimination. This modestly (e.g., compared to cluster, binary galaxy, and compact group samples) environmentally affected sample shows a significantly higher mean log(L FIR ), and R, whereas the mean log(L B ) is the same. Our sample shows a strong L FIR vs. L B correlation, with a slope steeper than one (L FIR ∝ L 1.41 B ). Interacting galaxies were found above this correlation, showing an enhancement in L FIR . With respect to the IRAS colours, we found higher F 60 /F 100 values for ellipticals and late-type galaxies than for spirals, indicating a higher dust temperature. The mean value of F 60 /F 100 was found to be lower than for interacting samples from the literature. Conclusions. The results indicate that the FIR emission is a variable enhanced by interaction, and that our sample probably shows the lowest possible mean value. This attests to the utility of our sample for defining a nurture-free zero point.

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Optical luminosity functions for compact groups of galaxies

Cited by 35 publications

References 0 publications

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies

The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in Compact Groups

The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies

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