The morphological evolution of galaxies

Many galaxies have taken on their familiar appearance relatively recently. In the distant Universe, galaxy morphology deviates significantly (and systematically) from that of nearby galaxies at redshifts (z) as low as 0.3. This corresponds to a time approximately 3.5 x 10(9) years in the past, which is only approximately 25% of the present age of the Universe. Beyond z = 0.5 (5 x 10(9) years in the past), spiral arms are less well developed and more chaotic, and barred spiral galaxies may become rarer. At z = 1, around 30% of the galaxy population is sufficiently peculiar that classification on Hubble's traditional "tuning fork" system is meaningless. On the other hand, some characteristics of galaxies have not changed much over time. The space density of luminous disk galaxies has not changed significantly since z = 1, indicating that although the general appearance of these galaxies has continuously changed over time, their overall numbers have been conserved.     

Explaining the color distributions of globular cluster systems in elliptical galaxies

The colors of globular clusters in most large elliptical galaxies are bimodal. This is generally taken as evidence for the presence of two cluster subpopulations that have different geneses. However, here we find that, because of the nonlinear nature of the metallicity-to-color transformation, a coeval group of old clusters with a unimodal metallicity spread can exhibit color bimodality. The models of cluster colors indicate that horizontal-branch stars are the main drivers behind the empirical nonlinearity. We show that the scenario gives simple and cohesive explanations for all the key observations and could simplify theories of elliptical galaxy formation.     

Star formation in irregular galaxies

Irregular galaxies can be viewed as laboratories for studying the processes of star formation. This class of galaxy, unlike the more familiar spiral galaxies, forms stars without spiral arms and does so from a chemically less-evolved interstellar medium. In this article the problems associated with star formation in irregular galaxies are outlined and their relevance to our understanding of star formaton as a general astrophysical process is discussed.     

Peculiar galaxies and radio sources

Pairs of radio sources which are separated by from 2 degrees to 6 degrees on the sky have been investigated. In a number of cases peculiar galaxies have been found approximately midway along a line joining the two radio sources. The central peculiar galaxies belong mainly to a certain class in the recently compiled Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. Among the radio sources so far associated with the peculiar galaxies are at least five known quasars. These quasars are indicated to be not at cosmological distances (that is, red shifts not caused by expansion of the universe) because the central peculiar galaxies are only at distances of 10 to 100 megaparsecs. The absolute magnitudes of these quasars are indicated to be in the range of brightness of normal galaxies and downward. Some of the radio sources which have been found to be associated with peculiar galaxies are galaxies themselves. It is therefore implied that ejection of material took place within or near the parent peculiar galaxies with speeds between 10(2) and 10(4) kilometers per second. After traveling for times of the order of 10(7) to 10(9) years, the luminous matter (galaxies) and radio sources (plasma) have reached their observed separations from the central peculiar galaxy. The large red shifts measured for the quasars would seem to be either (i) gravitational, (ii) collapse velocities of clouds of material falling toward the center of these compact galaxies, or (iii) some as yet unknown cause.     

Galaxies and the Universe: Properties of the universe are revealed by the rotation of galaxies and their distribution in space

A brief review is given of what the study of galaxies has taught us about properties of the universe. It is assumed that the universe started from a general "explosion," and that the general expansion observed today, as well as the 3 degrees K blackbody radiation, are consequences of this explosion. The present average density in the universe is probably close to the critical value of 10(-29) g/cm(3). Only about 3 percent of this is contained in galaxies; the rest consists probably of intergalactic gas at a temperature between 10(5) and 10(6) degrees K. Observations in our own galaxy indicate that this intergalactic gas is still flowing into it.     

The large, oxygen-rich halos of star-forming galaxies are a major reservoir of galactic metals

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is fed by galaxy outflows and accretion of intergalactic gas, but its mass, heavy element enrichment, and relation to galaxy properties are poorly constrained by observations. In a survey of the outskirts of 42 galaxies with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we detected ubiquitous, large (150-kiloparsec) halos of ionized oxygen surrounding star-forming galaxies; we found much less ionized oxygen around galaxies with little or no star formation. This ionized CGM contains a substantial mass of heavy elements and gas, perhaps far exceeding the reservoirs of gas in the galaxies themselves. Our data indicate that it is a basic component of nearly all star-forming galaxies that is removed or transformed during the quenching of star formation and the transition to passive evolution.     

Colliding and merging galaxies

Aided by advances in computer technology and observations from space, astronomers have begun to unravel the mysteries of galaxy formation and evolution. Galaxies evolve by interacting with their environment and especially with each other. During brief but often fierce galactic encounters, gravitational forces generate strong tides that survive as telltale signatures for billions of years. Because these so-called collisions dissipate orbital energy, galaxies on bound orbits may eventually merge. Collisions and mergers are responsible for a great variety of phenomena, including the triggering of widespread star formation in galaxies and the fueling of nuclear activity in quasars. Evidence is accumulating that not all galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang. A sizable fraction of them may have formed later, and many are still experiencing significant dynamical evolution.     

Percolation and galaxies

A theory is presented in which much of the structure of spiral galaxies arises from a percolation phase transition that underlies the phenomenon of propagating star formation. According to this view, the appearance of spiral arms is a consequence of the differential rotation of the galaxy and the characteristic divergence of correlation lengths for continuous phase transitions. Other structural properties of spiral galaxies, such as the distribution of the gaseous components and the luminosity, arise directly from a feedback mechanism that pins the star formation rate close to the critical point of the phase transition. The approach taken in this article differs from traditional dynamical views. The argument is presented that, at least for some galaxies, morphological and other features are already fixed by general properties of phase transitions, irrespective of detailed dynamic or other considerations.     

Gravitational lens optics

Several instances of multiple imaging of cosmologically distant sources by intervening galaxies and galaxy clusters have been discovered over the past decade. These "gravitational lenses" have distinctive optical properties. Pointlike sources such as quasars generally produce two or four images when lensed, whereas extended sources such as galaxies produce spectacular arcs and rings. The salient features of most of the observations can be reproduced with the use of simple elliptical lens models that approximate the lenses made by ellipsoidal mass distributions such as are common in the universe. In addition to illustrating simple optics in operation on a cosmological scale, multiple images and arcs provide useful probes of the lensing galaxies and clusters. Also, gravitational lenses can make magnified images of cosmologically distant sources and may eventually furnish important cosmographic data such as the Hubble constant.     

A dearth of dark matter in ordinary elliptical galaxies

The kinematics of the outer parts of three intermediate-luminosity elliptical galaxies were studied with the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph. The galaxies' velocity-dispersion profiles were found to decline with the radius, and dynamical modeling of the data indicates the presence of little if any dark matter in these galaxies' halos. This unexpected result conflicts with findings in other galaxy types and poses a challenge to current galaxy formation theories.     

Evidence for a low-density universe from the relative velocities of galaxies

The motions of galaxies can be used to constrain the cosmological density parameter Omega and the clustering amplitude of matter on large scales. The mean relative velocity of galaxy pairs, estimated from the Mark III survey, indicates that Omega = 0.35(-0.25)(+0.35). If the clustering of galaxies is unbiased on large scales, Omega = 0. 35 +/- 0.15, so that an unbiased Einstein-de Sitter model (Omega = 1) is inconsistent with the data.     

Dynamics of elliptical galaxies

Elliptical galaxies were once thought to be similar in their structure and dynamics to rotationally flattened bodies like stars. The discovery that elliptical galaxies rotate much more slowly than a fluid body with the same shape has led to a qualitative change in our understanding of the dynamics of these systems. It is now believed that elliptical galaxies are fully triaxial in shape. Self-consistent triaxial equilibria have been constructed and appear to be long-lived; they are made possible by the existence of conserved quantities, or integrals of motion, for galactic potentials without rotational symmetry. Many self-consistent equilibria are unstable; the nonexistence of elliptical galaxies with axis ratios more extreme than 3:1 is probably the result of such an instability. There is evidence for strong central mass concentrations, perhaps massive black holes, at the centers of some nearby galaxies. Recent observations suggest that many elliptical galaxies formed through the merger of two or more spiral galaxies.     

Extreme-Ultraviolet Flux from the Virgo Cluster: Further Evidence for a 500,000-Kelvin Component

A surprising discovery in x-ray astronomy was that clusters of galaxies often contain vast quantities of hot (20 million kelvin) diffuse gas. Substantial diffuse extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission has recently been detected in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Depending on the character of the interstellar medium in our galaxy, this emission could be either an aspect of the hot cluster gas or a previously undetected 500,000-kelvin component. Analysis of the observational data in combination with our current knowledge of the interstellar medium revealed that the EUV flux cannot be an effect of the interstellar medium. Hence, a warm cluster component appears likely.     

Hydrogen 21-centimeter emission from a galaxy at cosmological distance

We have detected the neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) emission line at a cosmologically significant distance [redshift (z) = 0.18] in the rich galaxy cluster Abell 2218 with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. The HI emission originates in a spiral galaxy 2.0 h65(-1) megaparsecs from the cluster core. No other significant detections have been made in the cluster, suggesting that the mechanisms that remove neutral gas from cluster galaxies are efficient. We infer that fewer than three gas-rich galaxies were accreted by Abell 2218 over the past 10(9) years. This low accretion rate is qualitatively consistent with low-density cosmological models in which clusters are largely assembled at z > 1.     

Gone with the wind: the origin of S0 galaxies in clusters

We present three-dimensional, high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction between the hot ionized intracluster medium and the cold interstellar medium of spiral galaxies. Ram pressure and turbulent/viscous stripping remove 100% of the atomic hydrogen content of luminous galaxies like the Milky Way within 100 million years. These mechanisms naturally account for the morphology of S0 galaxies and the rapid truncation of star formation implied by spectroscopic observations, as well as a host of observational data on the neutral hydrogen (HI) morphology of galaxies in clusters.     

Locating the two black holes in NGC 6240

Mergers play an important role in galaxy evolution and are key to understanding the correlation between central-black hole mass and host-galaxy properties. We used the new technology of adaptive optics at the Keck II telescope to observe NGC 6240, a merger between two disk galaxies. Our high-resolution near-infrared images, combined with radio and x-ray positions, revealed the location and environment of two central supermassive black holes. Each is at the center of a rotating stellar disk, surrounded by a cloud of young star clusters. The brightest of these young clusters lie in the plane of each disk, but surprisingly are seen only on the disks' receding side.     

Astronomy. Galactic encounters

Studies of the Local Group of galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs are shedding light on some of the processes by which galaxies formed and evolved. In her Perspective, Wyse reviews recent studies of collisions between the Milky Way and smaller satellite galaxies. There is evidence for minor collisions with satellites such as the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. But the Milky Way does not seem to have suffered any major collisions over the past 10,000 million years, making our galaxy unusual according to galaxy-formation models. Andromeda, another large galaxy in the Local Group, conforms better with expectation, showing evidence for significant recent accretion and/or disruption events.     

Discovery of new variable radio sources in the nucleus of the nearby galaxy messier 82

Widespread variability has been discovered in a large population of radio sources close to the nucleus of an active galaxy. The galaxy, Messier 82 (M82), and others similar to it show evidence for enhanced nuclear activity and unusually strong far-infrared emission. The observational data, obtained with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array in New Mexico over the past 3 years, provide the first direct "look" at a starburst-the phenomenon of sudden, rapid star formation which occurs near the nucleus of a small fraction of galaxies. Nearly all the brightest of about 40 radio sources in M82' s nucleus decreased in intensity over 2.7 years up to October 1983. One source, which in February 1981 was ten times as bright as our Galaxy's most luminous supernova remnant, turned off within only a few months. Most of the other ten strongest sources are declining so rapidly that they will fade into the background within 30 years. Thus, new supernovae are expected to appear in M82' s nucleus every few years. The discovery has revealed the "engine room" of the mysterious activity in M82 and, by implication, similar active galaxies which have disturbed nuclei and which are unusually luminous in the far infrared. An estimate of the rate of energy input by the radio-visible supernovae closely matches the far-infrared luminosities which were recently measured for M82 and other similar galaxies.