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Stellar streams are excellent probes of the underlying gravitational potential in which they evolve. In this work, we fit dynamical models to five streams in the Southern Galactic hemisphere, combining observations from the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S 5), Gaia EDR3, and the Dark Energy Survey, to measure the mass of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). With an ensemble of streams, we find a mass of the LMC ranging from ∼14–19 × 1010 M ⊙, probed over a range of closest approach times and distances. With the most constraining stream (Orphan–Chenab), we measure an LMC mass of 18.8 − 4.0 + 3.5 × 10 10 M ⊙ , probed at a closest approach time of 310 Myr and a closest approach distance of 25.4 kpc. This mass is compatible with previous measurements, showing that a consistent picture is emerging of the LMC’s influence on structures in the Milky Way. Using this sample of streams, we find that the LMC’s effect depends on the relative orientation of the stream and LMC at their point of closest approach. To better understand this, we present a simple model based on the impulse approximation and we show that the LMC’s effect depends both on the magnitude of the velocity kick imparted to the stream and the direction of this kick.

We present the results from an analysis of deep Herschel far-infrared (far-IR) observations of the edge-on disc galaxy NGC 3079. The point spread function-cleaned Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) images at 100 and 160 μm display a 25 × 25 kpc2 X-shape structure centred on the nucleus that is similar in extent and orientation to that seen in H α, X-rays, and the far-ultraviolet. One of the dusty filaments making up this structure is detected in the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver 250 μm map out to ∼25 kpc from the nucleus. The match between the far-IR filaments and those detected at other wavelengths suggests that the dusty material has been lifted out of the disc by the same large-scale galactic wind that has produced the other structures in this object. A closer look at the central 10 × 10 kpc2 region provides additional support for this scenario. The dust temperatures traced by the 100-160 μm flux ratios in this region are enhanced within a biconical region centred on the active galactic nucleus, aligned along the minor axis of the galaxy, and coincident with the well-known double-lobed cm-wave radio structure and H α-X-ray nuclear superbubbles. PACS imaging spectroscopy of the inner 6 kpc region reveals broad [C ii] 158 μm emission line profiles and OH 79 μm absorption features along the minor axis of the galaxy with widths well in excess of those expected from beam smearing of the disc rotational motion. This provides compelling evidence that the cool material traced by the [C ii] and OH features directly interacts with the nuclear ionized and relativistic outflows traced by the H α, X-ray, and radio emission.

We present deep far-infrared observations of the nearby edge-on galaxy NGC 891 obtained with the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The maps confirm the detection of thermal emission from the inner circumgalactic medium (halo) and spatially resolve a dusty superbubble and a dust spur (filament). The dust temperature of the halo component is lower than that of the disc but increases across a region of diameter ≈8.0 kpc extending at least 7.7 kpc vertically from one side of the disc, a region we call a superbubble because of its association with thermal X-ray emission and a minimum in the synchrotron scale height. This outflow is breaking through the thick disc and developing into a galactic wind, which is of particular interest because NGC 891 is not considered a starburst galaxy; the star formation rate surface density, 0.03 M⊙ yr-1 kpc-2, and gas fraction, just 10 per cent in the inner disc, indicate the threshold for wind formation is lower than previous work has suggested. We conclude that the star formation surface density is sufficient for superbubble blowout into the halo, but the cosmic ray electrons may play a critical role in determining whether this outflow develops into a fountain or escapes from the gravitational potential. The high dust-to-gas ratio in the dust spur suggests the material was pulled out of NGC 891 through the collision of a minihalo with the disc of NGC 891. We conclude that NGC 891 offers an example of both feedback and satellite interactions transporting dust into the halo of a typical galaxy.

We present an N-body model for the barred Milky Way (MW) galaxy that reproduces many of its properties, including the overall mass distribution, the disc kinematics, and the properties of the central bar. Our high-resolution (N ~ 10^8 particles) simulation, performed with the Ramses code, starts from an axisymmetric non-equilibrium configuration constructed within the AGAMA framework. This is a self-consistent dynamical model of the MW defined by the best available parameters for the dark matter halo, the stellar disc and the bulge. For the known (stellar and gas) disc mass (4.5 x 10^10 Msun) and disc mass fraction at R ~ 2.2 R_d (f_d ~ 0.3 - 0.6), the low mass limit does not yield a bar in a Hubble time. The high mass limit adopted here produces a box/peanut bar within about 2 Gyr with the correct mass (~10^10 Msun), size (~5 kpc) and peak pattern speed (~ 40-45 km/s/kpc). In agreement with earlier work, the bar formation timescale scales inversely with f_d (i.e. log [T/Gyr] ~ 0.60/f_d - 0.83 for 1 < f_d < 0.3). The disc radial heating is strong, but, in contrast to earlier claims, we find that disc vertical heating outside of the box/peanut bulge structure is negligible. The synthetic barred MW exhibits long-term stability, except for the slow decline (roughly -2 km/s/kpc/Gyr) of the bar pattern speed, consistent with recent estimates. If our model is indicative of the Milky Way, we estimate that the bar first emerged 3-4 Gyr ago., We welcome comments and missing references

Aims. The fueling and feedback of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are important in understanding the co-evolution between black holes and host galaxies. Mergers are thought to have the capability to bring gas inwards and ignite nuclear activity, especially for more powerful AGNs. However, there is still significant ongoing debate on whether mergers can trigger AGNs and, if they do, whether mergers are a significant triggering mechanism. Methods. We select a low-redshift ($0.005, Comment: 18 pages, accepted for publication in A&A

Context. The evolution of galaxies through cosmic time is studied observationally by means of extragalactic surveys. The usefulness of these surveys is greatly improved by increasing the cosmological volume, in either depth or area, and by observing the same targets in different wavelength ranges. A multi-wavelength approach using different observational techniques can compensate for observational biases. Aims. The OTELO survey aims to provide the deepest narrow-band survey to date in terms of minimum detectable flux and emission line equivalent width in order to detect the faintest extragalactic emission line systems. In this way, OTELO data will complements other broad-band, narrow-band, and spectroscopic surveys. Methods. The red tunable filter of the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is used to scan a spectral window centred at 9175 angstrom, which is free from strong sky emission lines, with a sampling interval of 6 angstrom and a bandwidth of 12 angstrom in the most deeply explored EGS region. Careful data reduction using improved techniques for sky ring subtraction, accurate astrometry, photometric calibration, and source extraction enables us to compile the OTELO catalogue. This catalogue is complemented with ancillary data ranging from deep X-ray to far-infrared, including high resolution HST images, which allow us to segregate the different types of targets, derive precise photometric redshifts, and obtain the morphological classification of the extragalactic objects detected. Results. The OTELO multi-wavelength catalogue contains 11 237 entries and is 50% complete at AB magnitude 26.38. Of these sources, 6600 have photometric redshifts with an uncertainty delta z(phot) better than 0.2 (1+z(phot)). A total of 4336 of these sources correspond to preliminary emission line candidates, which are complemented by 81 candidate stars and 483 sources that qualify as absorption line systems. The OTELO survey results will be released to the public on the second half of 2019.© ESO 2019, This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the grants AYA2013 - 46724 - P, AYA2014 - 58861 - C3 - 1 - P, AYA2014 - 58861 - C3 - 2 - P, AYA2014 - 58861 - C3 - 3 - P, AYA2016 - 75808 - R, AYA2016 -7 5931 - C2 - 2 - P, AYA2017 - 88007 - C3 - 1 - P and AYA2017 - 88007 - C3 - 2 - P. Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, on the island of La Palma. This study makes use of data from AEGIS, a multi-wavelength sky survey conducted with the Chandra, GALEX, Hubble, Keck, CFHT, MMT, Subaru, Palomar, Spitzer, VLA, and other telescopes and supported in part by the NSF, NASA, and the STFC. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/IRFU, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at Terapix available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of the NRC and CNRS. Based on observations obtained with WIRCam, a joint project of the CFHT, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, France, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institute National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at TERAPIX, the WIRDS (WIRcam Deep Survey) consortium, and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre. This research was supported by a grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-07-BLAN-0228. Jose A. de Diego thanks the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias for it s support through the Programa de Excelencia Severo Ochoa and the Gobierno de Canarias for the Programa de Talento Tricontinental grant. A. Bongiovanni thanks the anonymous Referee for her/his feedback and suggestions, and Terry Mahoney (at the IAC's Scientific Editorial Service) for his subtantial improvements of the manuscript.

Context. The evolution of galaxies through cosmic time is studied observationally by means of extragalactic surveys. The usefulness of these surveys is greatly improved by increasing the cosmological volume, in either depth or area, and by observing the same targets in different wavelength ranges. A multi-wavelength approach using different observational techniques can compensate for observational biases. Aims. The OTELO survey aims to provide the deepest narrow-band survey to date in terms of minimum detectable flux and emission line equivalent width in order to detect the faintest extragalactic emission line systems. In this way, OTELO data will complements other broad-band, narrow-band, and spectroscopic surveys. Methods. The red tunable filter of the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is used to scan a spectral window centred at 9175 angstrom, which is free from strong sky emission lines, with a sampling interval of 6 angstrom and a bandwidth of 12 angstrom in the most deeply explored EGS region. Careful data reduction using improved techniques for sky ring subtraction, accurate astrometry, photometric calibration, and source extraction enables us to compile the OTELO catalogue. This catalogue is complemented with ancillary data ranging from deep X-ray to far-infrared, including high resolution HST images, which allow us to segregate the different types of targets, derive precise photometric redshifts, and obtain the morphological classification of the extragalactic objects detected. Results. The OTELO multi-wavelength catalogue contains 11 237 entries and is 50% complete at AB magnitude 26.38. Of these sources, 6600 have photometric redshifts with an uncertainty delta z(phot) better than 0.2 (1+z(phot)). A total of 4336 of these sources correspond to preliminary emission line candidates, which are complemented by 81 candidate stars and 483 sources that qualify as absorption line systems. The OTELO survey results will be released to the public on the second half of 2019.© ESO 2019 This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the grants AYA2013 - 46724 - P, AYA2014 - 58861 - C3 - 1 - P, AYA2014 - 58861 - C3 - 2 - P, AYA2014 - 58861 - C3 - 3 - P, AYA2016 - 75808 - R, AYA2016 -7 5931 - C2 - 2 - P, AYA2017 - 88007 - C3 - 1 - P and AYA2017 - 88007 - C3 - 2 - P. Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, on the island of La Palma. This study makes use of data from AEGIS, a multi-wavelength sky survey conducted with the Chandra, GALEX, Hubble, Keck, CFHT, MMT, Subaru, Palomar, Spitzer, VLA, and other telescopes and supported in part by the NSF, NASA, and the STFC. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/IRFU, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at Terapix available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of the NRC and CNRS. Based on observations obtained with WIRCam, a joint project of the CFHT, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, France, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institute National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at TERAPIX, the WIRDS (WIRcam Deep Survey) consortium, and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre. This research was supported by a grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-07-BLAN-0228. Jose A. de Diego thanks the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias for it s support through the Programa de Excelencia Severo Ochoa and the Gobierno de Canarias for the Programa de Talento Tricontinental grant. A. Bongiovanni thanks the anonymous Referee for her/his feedback and suggestions, and Terry Mahoney (at the IAC's Scientific Editorial Service) for his subtantial improvements of the manuscript.

Swan bands - characteristic molecular absorption features of the C2 molecule - are a spectroscopic signature of carbon- enhanced stars. They can also be used to identify carbon-enhanced metal- poor (CEMP) stars. The GALAH (GALactic Archaeology with Hermes) is a magnitude-limited survey of stars producing high-resolution, high- signal-to-noise spectra. We used 627 708 GALAH spectra to search for carbon-enhanced stars with a supervised and unsupervised classification algorithm, relying on the imprint of the Swan bands. We identified 918 carbon-enhanced stars, including 12 already described in the literature. An unbiased selection function of the GALAH survey allows us to perform a population study of carbon-enhanced stars. Most of them are giants, out of which we find 28 CEMP candidates. A large fraction of our carbon- enhanced stars with repeated observations show variation in radial velocity, hinting that there is a large fraction of variables among them. 32 of the detected stars also show strong Lithium enhancement in their spectra.

For the first time both H$\alpha$ and far-ultraviolet (FUV) observations from an HI-selected sample are used to determine the dust-corrected star formation rate density (SFRD: $\dot{\rho}$) in the local Universe. Applying the two star formation rate indicators on 294 local galaxies we determine log($\dot{\rho}$$ _{H\alpha}) = -1.68~^{+0.13}_{-0.05}$ [M$_{\odot} $ yr$^{-1} $ Mpc$^{-3}]$ and log($\dot{\rho}_{FUV}$) $ = -1.71~^{+0.12}_{-0.13}$ [M$_\odot $ yr$^{-1} $ Mpc$^{-3}]$. These values are derived from scaling H$\alpha$ and FUV observations to the HI mass function. Galaxies were selected to uniformly sample the full HI mass (M$_{HI}$) range of the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey (M$_{HI} \sim10^{7}$ to $\sim10^{10.7}$ M$_{\odot}$). The approach leads to relatively larger sampling of dwarf galaxies compared to optically-selected surveys. The low HI mass, low luminosity and low surface brightness galaxy populations have, on average, lower H$\alpha$/FUV flux ratios than the remaining galaxy populations, consistent with the earlier results of Meurer. The near-identical H$\alpha$- and FUV-derived SFRD values arise with the low H$\alpha$/FUV flux ratios of some galaxies being offset by enhanced H$\alpha$ from the brightest and high mass galaxy populations. Our findings confirm the necessity to fully sample the HI mass range for a complete census of local star formation to include lower stellar mass galaxies which dominate the local Universe., Partial funding for the SINGG and SUNGG surveys came from NASA grants NAG5-13083 (LTSA program), GALEX GI04- 0105-0009 (NASA GALEX Guest Investigator grant) and NNX09AF85G (GALEX archival grant) to G.R. Meurer. FAR acknowledges partial funding from the Department of Physics, University of Western Australia. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

For the first time both H$��$ and far-ultraviolet (FUV) observations from an HI-selected sample are used to determine the dust-corrected star formation rate density (SFRD: $\dot��$) in the local Universe. Applying the two star formation rate indicators on 294 local galaxies we determine log($\dot��$$ _{H��}) = -1.68~^{+0.13}_{-0.05}$ [M$_{\odot} $ yr$^{-1} $ Mpc$^{-3}]$ and log($\dot��_{FUV}$) $ = -1.71~^{+0.12}_{-0.13}$ [M$_\odot $ yr$^{-1} $ Mpc$^{-3}]$. These values are derived from scaling H$��$ and FUV observations to the HI mass function. Galaxies were selected to uniformly sample the full HI mass (M$_{HI}$) range of the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey (M$_{HI} \sim10^{7}$ to $\sim10^{10.7}$ M$_{\odot}$). The approach leads to relatively larger sampling of dwarf galaxies compared to optically-selected surveys. The low HI mass, low luminosity and low surface brightness galaxy populations have, on average, lower H$��$/FUV flux ratios than the remaining galaxy populations, consistent with the earlier results of Meurer. The near-identical H$��$- and FUV-derived SFRD values arise with the low H$��$/FUV flux ratios of some galaxies being offset by enhanced H$��$ from the brightest and high mass galaxy populations. Our findings confirm the necessity to fully sample the HI mass range for a complete census of local star formation to include lower stellar mass galaxies which dominate the local Universe., 17 pages, 7 figures

Deciphering the assembly history of the Milky Way is a formidable task, which becomes possible only if one can produce high-resolution chrono-chemo-kinematical maps of the Galaxy. Data from large-scale astrometric and spectroscopic surveys will soon provide us with a well-defined view of the current chemo-kinematical structure of the Milky Way, but it will only enable a blurred view on the temporal sequence that led to the present-day Galaxy. As demonstrated by the (ongoing) exploitation of data from the pioneering photometric missions CoRoT, Kepler, and K2, asteroseismology provides the way forward: solar-like oscillating giants are excellent evolutionary clocks thanks to the availability of seismic constraints on their mass and to the tight age–initial mass relation they adhere to. In this paper we identify five key outstanding questions relating to the formation and evolution of the Milky Way that will need precise and accurate ages for large samples of stars to be addressed, and we identify the requirements in terms of number of targets and the precision on the stellar properties that are needed to tackle such questions. By quantifying the asteroseismic yields expected from PLATO for red giant stars, we demonstrate that these requirements are within the capabilities of the current instrument design, provided that observations are sufficiently long to identify the evolutionary state and allow robust and precise determination of acoustic-mode frequencies. This will allow us to harvest data of sufficient quality to reach a 10% precision in age. This is a fundamental prerequisite to then reach the more ambitious goal of a similar level of accuracy, which will be possible only if we have at hand a careful appraisal of systematic uncertainties on age deriving from our limited understanding of stellar physics, a goal that conveniently falls within the main aims of PLATO's core science. We therefore strongly endorse PLATO's current design and proposed observational strategy, and conclude that PLATO, as it is, will be a legacy mission for Galactic archaeology., International Space Science Institute (ISSI), European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, DFG, CH1188/2-1. COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), ChETEC COST Action, CA16117. The Danish National Research Foundation, DNRF106. UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), PRIN INAF 2014 – CRA 1.05.01.94.05, European Union FP7 program, ERC, 320360. Australian Research Council, DP150100250; FT160100402. NASA, NNX16AI09G. FCT; UID/FIS/04434/2013; FEDER (COMPETE); IF/00894/2012/; POPH/FSE (EC), CNES, DLR; NYUAD Institute, G1502. “Programme National de Physique Stellaire” (PNPS), “Programme National Cosmologie et Galaxies” (CNRS/INSU, France), CNES Fellowship, Swedish National Space Board (SNSB/Rymdstyrelsen), NASA, NNX16AJ17G. ERC Consolidator (STARKEY), 615604). Belspo (PRODEX PLATO), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, FT1400147. ESP2015-66134-R (MINECO), VILLUM FONDEN, 10118.

One key problem in astrophysics is understanding how and why galaxies switch off their star formation, building the quiescent population that we observe in the local Universe. From the GAMA and VIPERS surveys, we use spectroscopic indices to select quiescent and candidate transition galaxies. We identify potentially rapidly transitioning post-starburst galaxies, and slower transitioning green-valley galaxies. Over the last 8 Gyrs the quiescent population has grown more slowly in number density at high masses (M$_*>10^{11}$M$_\odot$) than at intermediate masses (M$_*>10^{10.6}$M$_\odot$). There is evolution in both the post-starburst and green valley stellar mass functions, consistent with higher mass galaxies quenching at earlier cosmic times. At intermediate masses (M$_*>10^{10.6}$M$_\odot$) we find a green valley transition timescale of 2.6 Gyr. Alternatively, at $z\sim0.7$ the entire growth rate could be explained by fast-quenching post-starburst galaxies, with a visibility timescale of 0.5 Gyr. At lower redshift, the number density of post-starbursts is so low that an unphysically short visibility window would be required for them to contribute significantly to the quiescent population growth. The importance of the fast-quenching route may rapidly diminish at $z10^{11}$M$_\odot$), there is tension between the large number of candidate transition galaxies compared to the slow growth of the quiescent population. This could be resolved if not all high mass post-starburst and green-valley galaxies are transitioning from star-forming to quiescent, for example if they rejuvenate out of the quiescent population following the accretion of gas and triggering of star formation, or if they fail to completely quench their star formation., 19 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Updated to match published version

We present a meta-analysis of star-formation rate (SFR) indicators in the GAMA survey, producing 12 different SFR metrics and determining the SFR-M* relation for each. We compare and contrast published methods to extract the SFR from each indicator, using a well-defined local sample of morphologically-selected spiral galaxies, which excludes sources which potentially have large recent changes to their SFR. The different methods are found to yield SFR-M* relations with inconsistent slopes and normalisations, suggesting differences between calibration methods. The recovered SFR-M* relations also have a large range in scatter which, as SFRs of the targets may be considered constant over the different timescales, suggests differences in the accuracy by which methods correct for attenuation in individual targets. We then recalibrate all SFR indicators to provide new, robust and consistent luminosity-to-SFR calibrations, finding that the most consistent slopes and normalisations of the SFR-M* relations are obtained when recalibrated using the radiation transfer method of Popescu et al. These new calibrations can be used to directly compare SFRs across different observations, epochs and galaxy populations. We then apply our calibrations to the GAMA II equatorial dataset and explore the evolution of star-formation in the local Universe. We determine the evolution of the normalisation to the SFR-M* relation from 0 < z < 0.35 - finding consistent trends with previous estimates at 0.3 < z < 1.2. We then provide the definitive z < 0.35 Cosmic Star Formation History, SFR-M* relation and its evolution over the last 3 billion years., 31 pages, 15 Figures

The status of OTELO and Lockman SpReSO surveys, the two large guaranteed time programs currently under way using OSIRIS at the 10.4m GTC is presented. The OTELO project, designed to detect the main optical emission lines from Hα to Lyα at redshifts from 0.4 through 7, is the deepest emission line survey to date, with unprecedented sensitivity in the detection of small equivalent widths. Lockman SpReSO is aimed to obtaining optical spectra, up to 24.5 AB magnitudes, in the central 24×24 square arcminutes of the Lockman Hole field, which has been observed with ROSAT and XMM–Newton at the highest depth. Lockman SpReSO mainly targets Far Infrared sources detected with the Herschel Space Observatory This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the grants AYA2014–58861–C3–1–P, AYA2014–58861–C3–2–P, AYA2014–58861–C3–3–P and AYA2013–46724–P. Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma. This study makes use of data from AEGIS, a multiwavelength sky survey conducted with the Chandra, GALEX, Hubble, Keck, CFHT, MMT, Subaru, Palomar, Spitzer, VLA, and other telescopes and supported in part by the NSF, NASA, and the STFC. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/IRFU, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Re[1]search Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at Terapix available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. Based on observations obtained with WIRCam, a joint project of CFHT,Taiwan, Korea, Canada, France, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institute National des Sciences de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at TERAPIX, the WIRDS (WIRcam Deep Survey) consortium, and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre. This research was supported by a grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-07-BLAN-0228

We perform automated bulge + disc decomposition on a sample of $\sim$7500 galaxies from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey in the redshift range of 0.002$

We present a detailed analysis of deep far-infrared observations of the nearby edge-on star-forming galaxy NGC 4631 obtained with the Herschel Space Observatory. Our Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) images at 70 and 160 μm show a rich complex of filaments and chimney-like features that extends up to a projected distance of 6 kpc above the plane of the galaxy. The PACS features often match extraplanar H, radio-continuum, and soft X-ray features observed in this galaxy, pointing to a tight disk-halo connection regulated by star formation. On the other hand, the morphology of the colder dust component detected on a larger scale in the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver 250, 350, and 500 μm data matches the extraplanar H I streams previously reported in NGC 4631 and suggests a tidal origin. The PACS 70/160 μm ratios are elevated in the central ∼3.0 kpc region above the nucleus of this galaxy (the "superbubble"). A pixel-by-pixel analysis shows that dust in this region has a higher temperature and/or an emissivity with a steeper spectral index than the dust in the disk, possibly the result of the harsher environment in the superbubble. Star formation in the disk seems energetically insufficient to lift the material out of the disk, unless it was more active in the past or the dust-to-gas ratio in the superbubble region is higher than the Galactic value. Some of the dust in the halo may also have been tidally stripped from nearby companions or lifted from the disk by galaxy interactions.

Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) studies based on CALIFA survey data have recently revealed ongoing low-level star formation (SF) in the periphery of a small fraction (∼10%) of local early-type galaxies (ETGs), witnessing a still ongoing inside-out galaxy growth process. A distinctive property of the nebular component in these ETGs, classified i+, is a structure with two radial zones, the inner of which displays LINER emission with a Hα equivalent width EW(Hα) ≃ 1 Å, the outer (3 Å retired>, that is, systems entirely lacking SF, and whose faint nebular emissionis solely powered by the post-AGB stellar component. The SDSS aperture progressively encompasses the outer SF zone only at higher z, at which the galaxies are unambiguously classified as >composite SF/LINER>. We also empirically demonstrate that the principal effect of a decreasing spectroscopic aperture on the classification of i+ ETGs through standard [NII]/Hα vs. [OIII]/Hβ emission-line (BPT) ratios consists of a monotonic shift upward and to the right precisely along the upper right wing of the >seagull> distribution on the BPT plane, that is, along the pathway connecting composite SF/HII galaxies with AGN/LINERs. Motivated by these observational insights, we also investigate theoretically observational biases in aperture-limited studies of inside-out growing galaxies as a function of z. To this end, we devise a simple 1D model that involves an outward-propagating exponentially decreasing SF process since z ∼ 10 and reproduces the radial extent and two-zone EW(Hα) distribution of local i+ ETGs. By simulating the 3″ spectroscopic SDSS aperture in this model, we find that SDSS studies at z ≲ 1 are progressively restricted to the inner (SF-devoid LINER) zone and miss an increasingly larger portion of the Hα-emitting periphery. This leads to the incorrect spectroscopic classification of these inside-out assembling galaxies as retired ETG/LINERs and also to a severe underestimation of their total star formation rate (SFR) in a manner inversely related to z. More specifically, the SFR inferred from the Hα luminosity registered within the SDSS fiber is reduced by 50% at z ∼ 0.86, reaching only 0.1% of its integral value at z = 0.1. We argue that the aperture-driven biases described above pertain to any morphological analog of i+ ETGs (e.g., SF-quiescent bulges within star-forming disks), regardless of whether it is viewed from the perspective of inside-out growth or inside-out SF quenching, and might be of considerable relevance to galaxy taxonomy and studies of the cosmic SFR density as a function of z., This paper is based on data from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area Survey, CALIFA (http://califa.caha.es), funded by the Spanish Ministery of Science under grant ICTS-2009-10, and the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman. JMG acknowledges support by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the Fellowship SFRH/BPD/66958/2009 and POPH/FSE (EC) by FEDER funding through the program Programa Operacional de Factores de Competitividade (COMPETE). P.P. is supported by FCT through the Investigador FCT Contract No. IF/01220/2013 and POPH/FSE (EC) by FEDER funding through the program COMPETE. J.M.G., P.P., I.B. and S.N.d.R. acknowledge support by FCT under project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029170 (Reference FCT PTDC/FIS-AST/3214/2012), funded by FCT-MEC (PIDDAC) and FEDER (COMPETE). They also acknowledge support by the exchange programme >Study of Emission-Line Galaxies with Integral-Field Spectroscopy> (SELGIFS, FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES-612701), funded by the EU through the IRSES scheme. SFS acknowledges support from CONACyT-180125 and PAPIIT-IA100815 grants. Support for LG is provided by the Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism's Millennium Science Initiative through grant IC120009, awarded to The Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, MAS. L.G. acknowledges support by CONICYT through FONDECYT grant 3140566. C.J.W. acknowledges support through the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant 303912. I.M. acknowledges financial support by the Junta de Andalucia through project TIC114, and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through projects AYA2010-15169 and AYA2013-42227-P. R.A. Marino is funded by the Spanish program of International Campus of Excellence Moncloa (CEI). This research made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

We describe modifications to the joint stepwise maximum likelihood method of Cole (2011) in order to simultaneously fit the GAMA-II galaxy luminosity function (LF), corrected for radial density variations, and its evolution with redshift. The whole sample is reasonably well-fit with luminosity (Qe) and density (Pe) evolution parameters Qe, Pe = 1.0, 1.0 but with significant degeneracies characterized by Qe = 1.4 - 0.4Pe. Blue galaxies exhibit larger luminosity density evolution than red galaxies, as expected. We present the evolution-corrected r-band LF for the whole sample and for blue and red sub-samples, using both Petrosian and Sersic magnitudes. Petrosian magnitudes miss a substantial fraction of the flux of de Vaucouleurs profile galaxies: the Sersic LF is substantially higher than the Petrosian LF at the bright end., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 13 pages, 11 figures. Comments welcome

We have observed two kinematically offset active galactic nuclei (AGN), whose ionised gas is at a different line-of-sight velocity to their host galaxies, with the SAMI integral field spectrograph (IFS). One of the galaxies shows gas kinematics very different to the stellar kinematics, indicating a recent merger or accretion event. We demonstrate that the star formation associated with this event was triggered within the last 100 Myr. The other galaxy shows simple disc rotation in both gas and stellar kinematics, aligned with each other, but in the central region has signatures of an outflow driven by the AGN. Other than the outflow, neither galaxy shows any discontinuity in the ionised gas kinematics at the galaxy's centre. We conclude that in these two cases there is no direct evidence of the AGN being in a supermassive black hole binary system. Our study demonstrates that selecting kinematically offset AGN from single-fibre spectroscopy provides, by definition, samples of kinematically peculiar objects, but IFS or other data are required to determine their true nature., Comment: MNRAS accepted. 14 pages, 11 figures

We constrain flat cosmological models with a joint likelihood analysis of a new compilation of data from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). Fitting the CMB alone yields a known degeneracy between the Hubble constant h and the matter density Ωm, which arises mainly from preserving the location of the peaks in the angular power spectrum. This 'horizon-angle degeneracy' is considered in some detail and is shown to follow the simple relation Ωm h3.4 = constant. Adding the 2dF-GRS power spectrum constrains Ωm h and breaks the degeneracy. If tensor anisotropies are assumed to be negligible, we obtain values for the Hubble constant of h = 0.665±0.047, the matter density Ωm = 0.313±0.055, and the physical cold dark matter and baryon densities Ωm h2 = 0.115±0.009, Ωm h2 = 0.022±0.002 (standard rms errors). Including a possible tensor component causes very little change to these figures; we set an upper limit to the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r < 0.7 at a 95 per cent confidence level. We then show how these data can be used to constrain the equation of state of the vacuum, and find w < -0.52 at 95 per cent confidence. The preferred cosmological model is thus very well specified, and we discuss the precision with which future CMB data can be predicted, given the model assumptions. The 2dFGRS power-spectrum data and covariance matrix, and the CMB data compilation used here, are available from http://www.roe.ac.uk/~wjp/.

We present 80 stellar and ionised gas velocity maps from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey in order to characterize the kinematic orientation of non-interacting galaxies. The study of galaxies in isolation is a key step towards understanding how fast-external processes, such as major mergers, affect kinematic properties in galaxies. We derived the global and individual (projected approaching and receding sides) kinematic position angles (PAs) for both the stellar and ionised gas line-of-sight velocity distributions. When compared to the photometric PA, we find that morpho-kinematic differences are smaller than 22 degrees in 90% of the sample for both components; internal kinematic misalignments are generally smaller than 16 degrees. We find a tight relation between the global stellar and ionised gas kinematic PA consistent with circular-flow pattern motions in both components. This relation also holds generally in barred galaxies across the bar and galaxy disk scales. Our findings suggest that even in the presence of strong bars, both the stellar and the gaseous components tend to follow the gravitational potential of the disk. As a result, kinematic orientation can be used to assess the degree of external distortions in interacting galaxies., Accepted for publication in A&A

We present bivariate luminosity and stellar mass functions of H$��$ star forming galaxies drawn from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. While optically deep spectroscopic observations of GAMA over a wide sky area enable the detection of a large number of $0.001, 27 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study the radial structure of the stellar mass surface density ($\mu$) and stellar population age as a function of the total stellar mass and morphology for a sample of 107 galaxies from the CALIFA survey. We use the fossil record to recover the star formation history (SFH) in spheroidal and disk dominated galaxies with masses from 10$^9$ to 10$^{12}$ M$_\odot$. We derive the half mass radius, and we find that galaxies are on average 15% more compact in mass than in light. HMR/HLR decreases with increasing mass for disk galaxies, but is almost constant in spheroidal galaxies. We find that the galaxy-averaged stellar population age, stellar extinction, and $\mu$ are well represented by their values at 1 HLR. Negative radial gradients of the stellar population ages support an inside-out formation. The larger inner age gradients occur in the most massive disk galaxies that have the most prominent bulges; shallower age gradients are obtained in spheroids of similar mass. Disk and spheroidal galaxies show negative $\mu$ gradients that steepen with stellar mass. In spheroidal galaxies $\mu$ saturates at a critical value that is independent of the galaxy mass. Thus, all the massive spheroidal galaxies have similar local $\mu$ at the same radius (in HLR units). The SFH of the regions beyond 1 HLR are well correlated with their local $\mu$, and follow the same relation as the galaxy-averaged age and $\mu$; suggesting that local stellar mass surface density preserves the SFH of disks. The SFH of bulges are, however, more fundamentally related to the total stellar mass, since the radial structure of the stellar age changes with galaxy mass even though all the spheroid dominated galaxies have similar radial structure in $\mu$. Thus, galaxy mass is a more fundamental property in spheroidal systems while the local stellar mass surface density is more important in disks., Comment: Accepted to be published in A&A

Measurements of the low-z Halpha luminosity function have a large dispersion in the local number density of sources, and correspondingly in the SFR density. The possible causes for these discrepancies include limited volume sampling, biases arising from survey sample selection, different methods of correcting for dust obscuration and AGN contamination. The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) provide deep spectroscopic observations over a wide sky area enabling detection of a large sample of star-forming galaxies spanning 0.001, 27 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We use the GAMA I dataset combined with GALEX, SDSS and UKIDSS imaging to construct the low-redshift (z, Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 23 pages, 17 figures. Figs. 1, 2 & 4 degraded. Based on GAMA data see: http://www.gama-survey.org/

Analysing all Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) galaxies within a factor two (+/- 0.3 dex) of the stellar mass of the Milky Way (MW), there is a 11.9% chance that one of these galaxies will have a close companion (within a projected separation of 70 kpc and radial separation of 400 km/s) that is at least as massive as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Two close companions at least as massive as the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) are rare at the 3.4% level. Two full analogues to the MW- LMC-SMC system were found in GAMA (all galaxies late-type and star forming), suggesting such a combination of close together, late-type, star-forming galaxies is rare: only 0.4% of MW mass galaxies (in the range where we could observe both the LMC and SMC) have such a system. In summary, the MW-LMC-SMC system is a 2.7? event (when recast into Gaussian statistics). Using cross-correlation comparisons we find that there is a preference for SMC- LMC binary pair analogues to be located within 2 Mpc of a range of different lumi- nosity groups. There is a particular preference is for such binaries to be located near LG luminosity systems. When these groups are subdivided into small magnitude gap and large magnitude gap subsets, the binaries prefer to be spatially associated with the small magnitude gap systems. These systems will be dynamically less evolved, but still offer the same amount of gravitational dark matter. This suggests that binaries such as the SMC-LMC might be transient systems, usually destroyed during vigorous merger events. Details of a particularly striking analogue to the MW-SMC-LMC and M31 complex are included., 6 pages 2 figures, Published in MNRAS, presented at IAU SpS2 Thu 23rd Aug 11:45am

We determine the low-redshift field galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) using an area of 143 deg2 from the first three years of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The magnitude limits of this redshift survey are r < 19.4 mag over two-thirds and 19.8 mag over one-third of the area. The GSMF is determined from a sample of 5210 galaxies using a density-corrected maximum volume method. This efficiently overcomes the issue of fluctuations in the number density versus redshift. With H0= 70 km s−1 Mpc−1, the GSMF is well described between 108 and 1011.5 M⊙ using a double Schechter function with Graphic, Graphic, α1=−0.35, Graphic and α2=−1.47. This result is more robust to uncertainties in the flow-model corrected redshifts than from the shallower Sloan Digital Sky Survey main sample (r < 17.8 mag). The upturn in the GSMF is also seen directly in the i-band and K-band galaxy luminosity functions. Accurately measuring the GSMF below 108 M⊙ is possible within the GAMA survey volume but as expected requires deeper imaging data to address the contribution from low surface-brightness galaxies.

We use the GAMA I dataset combined with GALEX, SDSS and UKIDSS imaging to construct the low-redshift (z, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 23 pages, 17 figures. Figs. 1, 2 & 4 degraded. Based on GAMA data see: http://www.gama-survey.org/

Using the RAVE survey, we recently brought to light a gradient in the mean galactocentric radial velocity of stars in the extended solar neighbourhood. This gradient likely originates from non-axisymmetric perturbations of the potential, among which a perturbation by spiral arms is a possible explanation. Here, we apply the traditional density wave theory and analytically model the radial component of the two-dimensional velocity field. Provided that the radial velocity gradient is caused by relatively long-lived spiral arms that can affect stars substantially above the plane, this analytic model provides new independent estimates for the parameters of the Milky Way spiral structure. Our analysis favours a two-armed perturbation with the Sun close to the inner ultra-harmonic 4:1 resonance, with a pattern speed \Omega_p=18.6^{+0.3}_{-0.2} km/s/kpc and a small amplitude A=0.55 \pm 0.02% of the background potential (14% of the background density). This model can serve as a basis for numerical simulations in three dimensions, additionally including a possible influence of the galactic bar and/or other non-axisymmetric modes., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The existence of a kinematically defined moving group of stars centred at U = -40, V = -17 km/s referred to as the Hyades Supercluster, has been suggested as the debris of an originally large star forming event, with its core being the present day Hyades open cluster. Using high-resolution UVES spectra, we present elemental abundances for a range of alpha, Fe-peak and neutron-capture elements for 26 proposed supercluster stars. Our results show that the sample stars display a heterogeneous abundance distribution, with a clump around [Fe/H] = +0.15. We also calculate stellar radial velocities and U,V,W space velocities. Enforcing a strict chemical and kinematical membership criteria, we find 4 supercluster stars share the Hyades open cluster abundances and kinematics, while many of the remaining stars fit the disc field kinematics and abundance range. We discuss our findings in the context of the Hyades supercluster being a dispersed star-forming remnant, a stellar stream of purely dynamical origin or a result of several processes., Comment: accepted by MNRAS

We determine the low-redshift field galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) using an area of 143 deg^2 from the first three years of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The magnitude limits of this redshift survey are r < 19.4 mag over two thirds and 19.8 mag over one third of the area. The GSMF is determined from a sample of 5210 galaxies using a density-corrected maximum volume method. This efficiently overcomes the issue of fluctuations in the number density versus redshift. With H_0 = 70, the GSMF is well described between 10^8 and 10^11.5 Msun using a double Schechter function with mass^* = 10^10.66 Msun, phi_1^* = 3.96 x 10^-3 Mpc^-3, alpha_1 = -0.35, phi_2^* = 0.79 x 10^-3 Mpc^-3 and alpha_2 = -1.47. This result is more robust to uncertainties in the flow-model corrected redshifts than from the shallower Sloan Digital Sky Survey main sample (r < 17.8 mag). The upturn in the GSMF is also seen directly in the i-band and K-band galaxy luminosity functions. Accurately measuring the GSMF below 10^8 Msun is possible within the GAMA survey volume but as expected requires deeper imaging data to address the contribution from low surface-brightness galaxies., v2; 15 pages, 17 figures, accepted by MNRAS, references updated, minor changes

We present the first results obtained using a tunable narrowband filter in the search for high-z protoclusters. Using the recently commissioned red tunable filter on the Gran Telescopio Canarias we have searched for Lya emitters in a 75 arcmin^2 field centered on the z=4.413 radio galaxy 6C0140+326. With three different wavelength tunings we find a total of 27 unique candidate Lya emitters. The availability of three different wavelength tunings allows us to make estimates of the redshifts for each of the objects. It also allows us to separate a possible protocluster from structure in the immediate foreground. This division shows that the foreground region contains significantly fewer Lya emitters. Also, the spatial distribution of the objects in the protocluster field deviates from a random distribution at the 2.5 sigma level. The observed redshift distribution of the emitters is different from the expected distribution of a blank field at the ~3 sigma level, with the Lya emitters concentrated near the radio galaxy at z>4.38. The 6C0140+326 field is denser by a factor of 9+/-5 than a blank field, and the number density of Lya emitters close to the radio galaxy is similar to that of the z~4.1 protocluster around TNJ1338-1942. We thus conclude that there is an overdensity of Lya emitters around the radio galaxy 6C0140+326. This is one of few known overdensities at such a high redshift., 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

New multi-core imaging fibre bundles -- hexabundles -- being developed at the University of Sydney will provide simultaneous integral field spectroscopy for hundreds of celestial sources across a wide angular field. These are a natural progression from the use of single fibres in existing galaxy surveys. Hexabundles will allow us to address fundamental questions in astronomy without the biases introduced by a fixed entrance aperture. We have begun to consider instrument concepts that exploit hundreds of hexabundles over the widest possible field of view. To this end, we have compared the performance of a 61-core fully-fused hexabundle and 5 lightly-fused bundles with 7 cores each. All fibres in the bundles have 100 micron cores. In the fully-fused bundle, the cores are distorted from a circular shape in order to achieve a higher fill fraction. The lightly-fused bundles have circular cores and five different cladding thicknesses which affect the fill fraction. We compare the optical performance of all 6 bundles and find that the advantage of smaller interstitial holes (higher fill fraction) is outweighed by the increase in modal coupling, cross-talk and the poor optical performance caused by the deformation of the fibre cores. Uniformly high throughput and low cross-talk are essential for imaging faint astronomical targets with sufficient resolution to disentangle the dynamical structure. Devices already under development will have between 100 and 200 lightly-fused cores, although larger formats are feasible. The light-weight packaging of hexabundles is sufficiently flexible to allow existing robotic positioners to make use of them., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. See also a complimentary paper on the development of hexabundles - Bland-Hawthorn et al. 2011, Optics Express, vol. 19, p. 2649 (http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-19-3-2649)

We analyse a sample of 82 850 stars from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey, with well-determined velocities and stellar parameters, to isolate a sample of 18 026 high-probability thin-disc dwarfs within 600 pc of the Sun. We derive space motions for these stars, and deduce the solar space velocity with respect to the local standard of rest. The peculiar solar motion we derive is in excellent agreement in radial U-circle dot and vertical W-circle dot peculiar motions with other recent determinations. Our derived tangential peculiar velocity, V-circle dot, agrees with very recent determinations, which favour values near 13 km s-1, in disagreement with earlier studies. The derived values are not significantly dependent on the comparison sample chosen, or on the method of analysis. The local Galaxy seems very well dynamically relaxed, in a near symmetric potential.

We report on the discovery of new members of nearby young moving groups, exploiting the full power of combining the RAVE survey with several stellar age diagnostic methods and follow-up high-resolution optical spectroscopy. The results include the identification of one new and five likely members of the beta Pictoris moving group, ranging from spectral types F9 to M4 with the majority being M dwarfs, one K7 likely member of the epsilon Cha group and two stars in the Tuc-Hor association. Based on the positive identifications we foreshadow a great potential of the RAVE database in progressing toward a full census of young moving groups in the solar neighbourhood., 7 pages, 1 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We analyze a sample of 82850 stars from the RAVE survey, with well-determined velocities and stellar parameters, to isolate a sample of 18026 high-probability thin-disc dwarfs within 600 pc of the Sun. We derive space motions for these stars, and deduce the solar space velocity with respect to the Local Standard of Rest. The peculiar solar motion we derive is in excellent agreement in radial $U_{\odot}$ and vertical $W_{\odot}$ peculiar motions with other recent determinations. Our derived tangential peculiar velocity, $V_{\odot}$ agrees with very recent determinations, which favour values near 13 km s$^{-1}$, in disagreement with earlier studies. The derived values are not significantly dependent on the comparison sample chosen, or on the method of analysis. The local galaxy seems very well dynamically relaxed, in a near symmetric potential., Comment: 9 pages, including 9 figures and 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We perform an extensive analysis of the Civ line in three large spectroscopic surveys of quasars. Differing approaches for fitting the Civ line can be found in the literature, and we compare the most common methods to highlight the relative systematics associated with each. We develop a line fitting procedure and apply it to the Civ line in spectra from the SDSS, 2QZ and 2SLAQ surveys. Our results are compared with a previous study of the Mgii line in the same sample. Civ tends to be broader than the Mgii line in spectra that have both, and the average ratio between the lines is consistent with a simplistic model for a photoionised, virialised and stratified broad-line region. There is a statistically significant correlation between the widths of the Civ and Mgii lines. However, the correlation is weak, and the scatter around a best fit is only marginally less than the full dynamic range of line widths. Motivated by previous work, we examine the dispersion in the distribution of Civ line widths. We find that the dispersion in Civ line widths is essentially independent of both redshift and luminosity. This is in stark contrast to the Mgii line, which shows a strong luminosity dependence. Finally we consider our results in terms of their implications for virial black hole mass estimation. The inconsistency between Mgii and Civ line widths in single spectra, combined with the differing behaviour of the Mgii and Civ line width distributions, indicates that there must be an inconsistency between Mgii and Civ virial mass estimators. Furthermore, the level of intrinsic dispersion in Mgii and Civ line widths contributes less dynamic range to virial mass estimates than the error associated with the estimates. The indication is that the line width term in these UV virial mass estimators may be essentially irrelevant with respect to the typical uncertainty on a mass estimate., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

It has long been known that a large fraction of disc galaxies are lopsided. We simulate three different mechanisms that can induce lopsidedness: flyby interactions, gas accretion from cosmological filaments and ram pressure from the intergalactic medium. Comparing the morphologies, HI spectrum and m=1 Fourier components, we find that all of these mechanisms can induce lopsidedness in the gaseous component of disc galaxies. In particular, we estimate that flybys can contribute to ~20 per cent of lopsided galaxies. We compare our simulations with the observations of NGC 891, a lopsided, edge-on galaxy with a nearby companion (UGC 1807). We find that the main properties of NGC 891 favour a flyby event for the origin of lopsidedness in this galaxy., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in "The Galaxy Disk in Cosmological Context"; Proceedings of IAU254; Copenhagen; 9-13 June 2008; eds. J. Anderson, J. Bland-Hawthorn, B. Nordstrom

We provide a brief overview of some key issues that came out of the IAU 256 symposium on the Magellanic System (http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/iaus256), Comment: 11 pages

We have used the 2dF instrument on the AAT to obtain redshifts of a sample of z, MNRAS, accepted; 15 pg., 14 fig. (9 color); high res. version at http://sdss2df.ncsa.uiuc.edu/publications/refereed/gtrichards_2SLAQ_QLF.ps

The distribution of global photometric, spectroscopic, structural and morphological parameters for a well defined sample of 350 nearby galaxies has been examined. The usual trends were recovered demonstrating that E/S0 galaxies are redder, more quiescent, more centrally concentrated and possess larger Sersic indices than later type galaxies. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to examine the distribution of all parameters simultaneously. The main result of these analyses was the existence of only two classes of galaxies, corresponding closely to early and late types. Linear discriminant analysis was able to reproduce the classifications of early and late types galaxies with high success, but further refinement of galaxy types was not reproduced in the distribution of observed galaxy properties. A principal components analysis showed that the major variance of the parameter set corresponded to a distinction between early and late types, highlighting the importance of the distinction. A hierarchical clustering analysis revealed only two clear natural classes within the parameter set, closely corresponding to early and late types. Early and late types are clearly distinct and the distinction is of fundamental importance. In contrast, late types from Sa to Irr are smoothly distributed throughout the parameter space. A population of galaxies classified by eye as elliptical/lenticular, and exhibiting concentration indices similar to early-types were found to have a significant star-formation activity. These galaxies are preferentially faint, suggesting they are low-mass systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 17 pages, 12 figures

The 2dFGRS Percolation-Inferred Galaxy Group (2PIGG) catalogue of ~29000 objects is used to study the luminous content of galaxy systems of various sizes. Mock galaxy catalogues constructed from cosmological simulations are used to gauge the accuracy with which intrinsic group properties can be recovered. A Schechter function is found to be a reasonable fit to the galaxy luminosity functions in groups of different mass in the real data. The characteristic luminosity L* is larger for more massive groups. However, the mock data show that the shape of the recovered luminosity function is expected to differ from the true shape, and this must be allowed for when interpreting the data. The variation of halo mass-to-light ratio with group size is studied in both these wavebands. A robust trend of increasing M/L with increasing group luminosity is found in the 2PIGG data. From groups with L_bj=10^{10}Lsol to those 100 times more luminous, the typical bj-band M/L increases by a factor of 5, whereas the rf-band M/L grows by a factor of 3.5. These trends agree well with the simulations, which also predict a minimum M/L on a scale corresponding to the Local Group. Our data indicate that if such a minimum exists, then it must occur at L, Comment: Same as before

We present a detailed analysis of the two-point correlation function, from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). We estimate the redshift-space correlation function, xi(s), from which we measure the redshift-space clustering length, s_0=6.82+/-0.28 Mpc/h. We also estimate the projected correlation function, Xi(sigma), and the real-space correlation function, xi(r), which can be fit by a power-law, with r_0=5.05+/-0.26Mpc/h, gamma_r=1.67+/-0.03. For r>20Mpc/h, xi drops below a power-law as is expected in the popular LCDM model. The ratio of amplitudes of the real and redshift-space correlation functions on scales of 8-30Mpc/h gives an estimate of the redshift-space distortion parameter beta. The quadrupole moment of xi on scales 30-40Mpc/h provides another estimate of beta. We also estimate the distribution function of pairwise peculiar velocities, f(v), including rigorously the effect of infall velocities, and find that it is well fit by an exponential. The accuracy of our xi measurement is sufficient to constrain a model, which simultaneously fits the shape and amplitude of xi(r) and the two redshift-space distortion effects parameterized by beta and velocity dispersion, a. We find beta=0.49+/-0.09 and a=506+/-52km/s, though the best fit values are strongly correlated. We measure the variation of the peculiar velocity dispersion with projected separation, a(sigma), and find that the shape is consistent with models and simulations. Using the constraints on bias from recent estimates, and taking account of redshift evolution, we conclude that beta(L=L*,z=0)=0.47+/-0.08, and that the present day matter density of the Universe is 0.3, consistent with other 2dFGRS estimates and independent analyses., 19 pages, revised following referee's report, and accepted by MNRAS. Higher resolution Figures, an animated version of Figure 12 and a colour version of Figure 22 are available from http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppxeh/

4 pages, 3 figures.-- Published in: Proceedings of "Science with the GTC", Granada (Spain), February 5-8, 2002, RMxAA 16, 241-244 (2003)., [EN] High-redshift clusters of galaxies are amongst the largest cosmic structures. Their properties and evolution are key ingredients to our understanding of cosmology: to study the growth of structure from the inhomogeneities of the cosmic microwave background; the processes of galaxy formation, evolution, and differentiation; and to measure the cosmological parameters (through their interaction with the geometry of the universe, the age estimates of their component galaxies, or the measurement of the amount of matter locked in their potential wells). However, not much is yet known about the properties of clusters at redshifts of cosmological interest. We propose here a radically new method to study large samples of cluster galaxies using microslits to perform spectroscopy of huge numbers of objects in single fields in a narrow spectral range-chosen to fit an emission line at the cluster redshift. Our objective is to obtain spectroscopy in a very restricted wavelength range (~ 100 A in width) of several thousands of objects for each single 8x8 square arcmin field. Approximately 100 of them will be identified as cluster emission-line objects and will yield basic measurements of the dynamics and the star formation in the cluster (that figure applies to a cluster at z~0.50, and becomes ~40 and ~20 for clusters at z~0.75 and z~1.00 respectively). This is a pioneering approach that, once proven, will be followed in combination with photometric redshift techniques and applied to other astrophysical problems., [ES] Los cúmulos de galaxias a alto redshift están entre las estructuras cósmicas de mayor tamaño. Sus propiedades y evolución nos dan información sobre los aspectos claves de la cosmología: el crecimiento de estructura a partir de las semillas del fondo cósmico de microondas, los procesos de formación, evolución y diferenciación de galaxias, y la medida de los parámetros cosmológicos (a partir de la interacción de los cúmulos con la geometría del universo, la estimación de las edades de las galaxias que los forman, o la medida de la cantidad de materia en sus pozos de potencial). No obstante, no sabemos mucho sobre las propiedades de los cúmulos lejanos (en el rango z ~ 0.5 − 1.0). Con esta propuesta presentamos un método radicalmente nuevo para estudiar gran cantidad de galaxias en una muestra significativa de cúmulos, mediante espectroscopía en un rango muy restringido (aproximadamente 100 A, elegido para contener una línea de emisión al redshift del cúmulo). Combinando el gran tamaño del campo de OSIRIS con la posibilidad de utilizar microrrendijas y el pequeño rango espectral, obtendremos espectros de miles de objetos por cada campo, de los cuales aproximadamente 100 serán identificados como pertenecientes al cúmulo (a z ~ 0.50; la cifra es ~40 a z~0.75, y ~ 20 a z ~ 1.00). Estos objetos nos darán información sobre las propiedades cinemáticas y la formación estelar en el cúmulo. Este es un método pionero, cuya utilidad, una vez demostrada, puede ser mejorada en combinación con medidas fotométricas de redshift, y aplicada a otros problemas astronómicos.

Using Chandra and HST we show that X-ray and H$��$ filaments that form the 1.3-kpc diameter superbubble of NGC 3079 have strikingly similar patterns at 0."8 resolution. This tight match seems to arise from cool disk gas that has been driven by the wind, with X-rays being emitted from upstream, stand-off bowshocks or by conductive cooling at the cloud/wind interfaces. We find that the soft X-ray plasma has thermal and kinetic energies of $2\times10^{56}\sqrt{��_x}$ and $5\times10^{54}\sqrt{��_X}$ erg respectively, where $��_X$ is the filling factor of the X-ray gas and may be small; these are comparable to the energies of the optical line-emitting gas. X-rays are also seen from the base of the radio counterbubble that is obscured optically by the galaxy disk, and from the nucleus (whose spectrum shows the Fe K$��$ line). Hydrodynamical simulations reproduce the obbservations well using large filling factors within both filament systems; assuming otherwise seriously underestimates the mass loss in the superwind. The superbubble is surrounded by a fainter conical halo of X-rays that fill the area delineated by high angle, H$��$-emitting filaments, supporting our previous assertion that these filaments form the contact discontinuity/shock between galaxy gas and shocked wind. About 40\arcsec (3 kpc) above the disk, an X-ray arc may partially close beyond the bubble, but the north-east quadrant remains open, consistent with the superwind having broken out into at least the galaxy halo., 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Sept. 10 ApJ

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey is the first to observe more than 100,000 redshifts. This allows precise measurements of many of the key statistics of galaxy clustering, in particular redshift-space distortions and the large-scale power spectrum. This paper presents the current 2dFGRS results in these areas. Redshift-space distortions are detected with a high degree of significance, confirming the detailed Kaiser distortion from large-scale infall velocities, and measuring the distortion parameter beta equiv Omega_m^{0.6}/b = 0.43 +- 0.07. The power spectrum is measured to < 10% accuracy for k > 0.02 h Mpc^{-1}, and is well fitted by a CDM model with Omega_m h = 0.20 +- 0.03 and a baryon fraction of 0.15 +- 0.07. A joint analysis with CMB data requires Omega_m = 0.29 +- 0.05, assuming scalar fluctuations, but no priors on other parameters. Two methods are used to determine the large-scale bias parameter: an internal bispectrum analysis yields b = 1.04 +- 0.11, in very good agreement with the b = 1.10 +- 0.08 obtained from a joint 2dFGRS+CMB analysis, again assuming scalar fluctuations. These figures refer to galaxies of approximate luminosity 2L^*; luminosity dependence of clustering is detected at high significance, and is well described by b/b^* = 0.85 + 0.15(L/L^*)., 20 Pages. To appear in "A New Era in Cosmology" (ASP Conference Proceedings), eds T. Shanks and N. Metcalfe. Replaced with minor corrections to match revised 2dFGRS bias paper

We present some developments in determining H-alpha distances to high-velocity clouds (HVCs) in the Galactic halo. Until recently, it was difficult to assess the nature and origin of HVCs because so little was known about them. But now several HVCs have reliable distance bounds derived from the stellar absorption technique, and more than a dozen have abundance measurements. In addition, twenty or more HVCs have been detected in H-alpha (and a few in optical forbidden lines). Over the past five years, we have been developing a model of the halo radiation field which includes contributions from the stellar disk, the stellar bulge, the hot corona, and the Magellanic Clouds. In certain instances, the H-alpha flux from an opaque HI cloud can be used to derive a crude distance constraint to the cloud. For a UV escape fraction of f_esc ~ 6% perpendicular to the disk (f_esc ~ 1-2% when averaged over solid angle), the HVCs appear to be broadly consistent with the spiral arm model. We caution that a larger database with full sky coverage is required before the usefulness of H-alpha distances can be fully assessed. We present a number of detailed predictions from our distance frame to encourage independent assessments from future observations. If the model is valid, we find that most HVCs detected to date are scattered throughout the halo up to distances of 50 kpc from the Sun. Most of this material is likely to be debris from recent galaxy interactions, or even debris dislodged from the outer Galaxy disk. We propose some future tests of the H-alpha distance model and briefly discuss recent H-alpha detections along the Magellanic Bridge and Magellanic Stream., Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures; to appear in "Extragalactic Gas at Low Redshift", ASP Conf. Series, eds. J. Mulchaey & J. Stocke. The pulsar community may be interested in the extended version of the Taylor-Cordes pulsar dispersion model on which the spiral arm radiation field model is based

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) is designed to measure redshifts for approximately 250000 galaxies. This paper describes the survey design, the spectroscopic observations, the redshift measurements and the survey database. The 2dFGRS uses the 2dF multi-fibre spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which is capable of observing 400 objects simultaneously over a 2-degree diameter field. The source catalogue for the survey is a revised and extended version of the APM galaxy catalogue, and the targets are galaxies with extinction-corrected magnitudes brighter than b_J=19.45. The main survey regions are two declination strips, one in the southern Galactic hemisphere spanning 80deg x 15deg around the SGP, and the other in the northern Galactic hemisphere spanning 75deg x 10deg along the celestial equator; in addition, there are 99 fields spread over the southern Galactic cap. The survey covers 2000 sq.deg and has a median depth of z=0.11. Adaptive tiling is used to give a highly uniform sampling rate of 93% over the whole survey region. Redshifts are measured from spectra covering 3600A-8000A at a two-pixel resolution of 9.0A and a median S/N of 13 per pixel. All redshift identifications are visually checked and assigned a quality parameter Q in the range 1-5; Q>=3 redshifts are 98.4% reliable and have an rms uncertainty of 85 km/s. The overall redshift completeness for Q>=3 redshifts is 91.8%, but this varies with magnitude from 99% for the brightest galaxies to 90% for objects at the survey limit. The 2dFGRS database is available on the WWW at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/2dFGRS, accepted by MNRAS; version with high-resolution figures at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/2dFGRS/Public/Publications; accompanies the 2dFGRS 100k Release, now available at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/2dFGRS