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Massive compact systems at 0.2

The low surface brightness disc galaxy Malin2 challenges the standard theory of galaxy evolution by its enormous total mass ~2 10^12 Ms which must have been formed without recent major merger events. The aim of our work is to create a coherent picture of this exotic object by using the new optical multicolor photometric and spectroscopic observations at Apache Point Observatory as well as archival datasets from Gemini and wide-field surveys. We performed the Malin2 mass modelling, estimated the contribution of the host dark halo and found that it had acquired its low central density and the huge isothermal sphere core radius before the disc subsystem was formed. Our spectroscopic data analysis reveals complex kinematics of stars and gas in the very inner region. We measured the oxygen abundance in several clumps and concluded that the gas metallicity decreases from the solar value in the centre to a half of that at 20-30 kpc. We found a small satellite and measured its mass (1/500 of the host galaxy) and gas metallicity. One of the unique properties of Malin2 turned to be the apparent imbalance of ISM: the molecular gas is in excess with respect to the atomic gas for given values of the gas equilibrium turbulent pressure. We explain this imbalance by the presence of a significant portion of the dark gas not observable in CO and the Hi 21 cm lines. We also show that the depletion time of the observed molecular gas traced by CO is nearly the same as in normal galaxies. Our modelling of the UV-to-optical spectral energy distribution favours the exponentially declined SFH over a single-burst scenario. We argue that the massive and rarefied dark halo which had formed before the disc component well describes all the observed properties of Malin2 and there is no need to assume additional catastrophic scenarios proposed previously to explain the origin of giant LSB galaxies. [Abbreviated], Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We identify nine galaxies with dynamical masses of M_dyn>10^10 M_sol as photometric point sources, but with redshifts between z=0.2 and z=0.6, in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectro-photometric database. All nine galaxies have archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images. Surface brightness profile fitting confirms that all nine galaxies are extremely compact (with circularized half-light radii between 0.4 and 6.6 kpc and the median value of 0.74 kpc) for their velocity dispersion (1101 galaxies and the other eight objects follow the high-redshift dynamical size-mass relation., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

We describe a robust technique based on the ULySS IDL code for measuring velocity dispersions of galaxies observed with the MMT's fiber-fed spectrograph, Hectospec. This procedure is applicable to all Hectospec spectra having a signal-to-noise >5 and weak emission lines. We estimate the internal error in the Hectospec velocity dispersion measurements by comparing duplicate measurements of 171 galaxies. For a sample of 984 galaxies with a median z=0.10, we compare velocity dispersions measured by Hectospec through a 1.5 arcsec diameter optical fiber with those measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Baryon Oscillation Spectral Survey (BOSS) through 3 arcsec and 2 arcsec diameter optical fibers, respectively. The systematic differences between the Hectospec and the SDSS/BOSS measurements are <7% for velocity dispersions between 100 and 300 km/s, the differences are no larger than the differences among the three BOSS velocity dispersion reductions. We analyze the scatter about the fundamental plane and find no significant redshift dependent systematics in our velocity dispersion measurements to z~0.6. This analysis also confirms our estimation of the measurement errors. In one hour in good conditions, we demonstrate that we achieve 30 km/s velocity dispersion errors for galaxies with an SDSS r fiber magnitude of 21., Comment: 8 figures

We present a calibration of the fundamental plane using SDSS Data Release 8. We analysed about 93000 elliptical galaxies up to $z<0.2$, the largest sample used for the calibration of the fundamental plane so far. We incorporated up-to-date K-corrections and used GalaxyZoo data to classify the galaxies in our sample. We derived independent fundamental plane fits in all five Sloan filters u, g, r, i and z. A direct fit using a volume-weighted least-squares method was applied to obtain the coefficients of the fundamental plane, which implicitly corrects for the Malmquist bias. We achieved an accuracy of 15% for the fundamental plane as a distance indicator. We provide a detailed discussion on the calibrations and their influence on the resulting fits. These re-calibrated fundamental plane relations form a well-suited anchor for large-scale peculiar-velocity studies in the nearby universe. In addition to the fundamental plane, we discuss the redshift distribution of the elliptical galaxies and their global parameters., Comment: 40 pages, 97 figures, 21 tables, accepted for publication in A&A

We present ground-based measurements of the transmission and emission spectra of the hot-Jupiter WASP-19b in nine spectroscopic channels from 1.25 to 2.35 microns. The measurements are based on the combined analysis of time-series spectroscopy obtained during two complete transits and two complete secondary eclipses of the planet. The observations were performed with the MMIRS instrument on the Magellan II telescope using the technique of multi-object spectroscopy with wide slits. We compare the transmission and emission data to theoretical models to constrain the composition and thermal structure of the planet's atmosphere. Our measured transmission spectrum exhibits a scatter that corresponds to 1.3 scale heights of the planet's atmosphere, which is consistent with the size of spectral features predicted by theoretical models for a clear atmosphere. We detected the secondary eclipses of the planet at significances ranging from 2.2 to 14.4 sigma. The secondary eclipse depths, and the significances of the detections increase towards longer wavelengths. Our measured emission spectrum is consistent with a 2250 K effectively isothermal 1-D model for the planet's dayside atmosphere. This model also matches previously published photometric measurements from the Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes. These results demonstrate the important role that ground-based observations using multi-object spectroscopy can play in constraining the properties of exoplanet atmospheres, and they also emphasize the need for high-precision measurements based on observations of multiple transits and eclipses., Comment: ApJ in press

We present a new technique for the determination of the low-mass slope ($\alpha_1$; $M_* < 0.5 M_{\odot}$) of the present day stellar mass function (PDMF) using the pixel space fitting of integrated light spectra. It can be used to constrain the initial mass function (IMF) of stellar systems with relaxation timescales exceeding the Hubble time and testing the IMF universality hypothesis. We provide two versions of the technique: (1) a fully unconstrained determination of the age, metallicity, and $\alpha_1$ and (2) a constrained fitting by imposing the externally determined mass-to-light ratio of the stellar population. We have tested our approach by Monte-Carlo simulations using mock spectra and conclude that: (a) age, metallicity and $\alpha_1$ can be precisely determined by applying the unconstrained version of the code to high signal-to-noise datasets (S/N=100, R=7000 yield $\Delta \alpha_1 \approx 0.1$); (b) the $M/L$ constraint significantly improves the precision and reduces the degeneracies, however its systematic errors will cause biased $\alpha_1$ estimates; (c) standard Lick indices cannot constrain the PDMF because they miss most of the mass function sensitive spectral features; (d) the $\alpha_1$ determination remains unaffected by the high-mass IMF shape ($\alpha_3$; $M_* \ge 1 M_{\odot}$) variation for stellar systems older than 8 Gyr, while the intermediate-mass IMF slope ($\alpha_2$; $0.5 \le M_* < 1 M_{\odot}$) may introduce biases into the best-fitting $\alpha_1$ values if it is different from the canonical value $\alpha_2 = 2.3$. We analysed observed intermediate resolution spectra of ultracompact dwarf galaxies with our technique and demonstrated its applicability to real data., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS, 7 pages, 4 figures

We present the new technique for the determination of the low-mass slope of the stellar mass function from the pixel-space fitting of integrated light spectra. This technique is the extension of the NBursts full spectral fitting technique. It can be used to constrain the stellar initial mass function (IMF) of compact stellar systems having high relaxation timescales (Hubble time or more). We used Monte-Carlo simulations with mock spectra to test the technique and conclude that: (1) age, metallicity, and IMF can be very precisely determined in the first "unrestricted" variant of the code for high signal-to-noise datasets (S/N=100, R=7000 give the uncertainty of alpha of about 0.1); (2) adding the M/L information significantly improves the precision and reduces the degeneracies, however systematic errors in M/L will translate into offsets in the IMF slope., Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the conference EWASS2012, Rome, 2012, submitted to the Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana

We describe principal components of the new spectroscopic data pipeline for the multi-object MMT/Magellan Infrared Spectrograph (MMIRS). The pipeline is implemented in IDL and C++. The performance of the data processing algorithms is sufficient to reduce a single dataset in 2--3 min on a modern PC workstation so that one can use the pipeline as a quick-look tool during observations. We provide an example of the spectral data processed by our pipeline and demonstrate that the sky subtraction quality gets close to the limits set by the Poisson photon statistics., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the ADASS-XXII conference

The MMT and Magellan infrared spectrograph (MMIRS) is a cryogenic multiple slit spectrograph operating in the wavelength range 0.9-2.4 micron. MMIRS' refractive optics offer a 6.9 by 6.9 arcmin field of view for imaging with a spatial resolution of 0.2 arcsec per pixel on a HAWAII-2 array. For spectroscopy, MMIRS can be used with long slits up to 6.9 arcmin long, or with custom slit masks having slitlets distributed over a 4 by 6.9 arcmin area. A range of dispersers offer spectral resolutions of 800 to 3000. MMIRS is designed to be used at the f/5 foci of the MMT or Magellan Clay 6.5m telescopes. MMIRS was commissioned in 2009 at the MMT and has been in routine operation at the Magellan Clay Telescope since 2010. MMIRS is being used for a wide range of scientific investigations from exoplanet atmospheres to Ly-alpha emitters., Comment: 43 pages, including 11 figures, accepted for publication in PASP

We present spectroscopic observations of ultra compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies in the Fornax and Virgo Clusters made to measure and compare their stellar populations. The spectra were obtained on the Gemini-North (Virgo) and Gemini-South (Fornax) Telescopes using the respective Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs. We estimated the ages, metallicities and abundances of the objects from mea- surements of Lick line-strength indices in the spectra; we also estimated the ages and metallicities independently using a direct spectral fitting technique. Both methods re- vealed that the UCDs are old (mean age 10.8 \pm 0.7 Gyr) and (generally) metal-rich (mean [Fe/H] = -0.8 \pm 0.1). The alpha-element abundances of the objects measured from the Lick indices are super-Solar. We used these measurements to test the hypothesis that UCDs are formed by the tidal disruption of present-day nucleated dwarf elliptical galaxies. The data are not consistent with this hypothesis because both the ages and abundances are significantly higher than those of observed dwarf galaxy nuclei (this does not exclude disruption of an earlier generation of dwarf galaxies). They are more consistent with the properties of globular star clusters, although at higher mean metallicity. The UCDs display a very wide range of metallicity (-1.7 <[Fe/H]< 0.0), spanning the full range of both globular clusters and dwarf galaxy nuclei. We confirm previous reports that most UCDs have high metalliticities for their luminosities, lying significantly above the canonical metallicitiy-luminosity relation followed by early-type galaxies. In contrast to previous work we find that there is no significant difference in either the mean ages or the mean metallicities of the Virgo and Fornax UCD populations., Comment: 15 pages (including references and appendix), 8 figures (including appendix)

The Characterisation data model is a standard of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) that describes observational datasets in the multi-dimensional parameter space. Defining three properties: coverage, resolution, and sampling along different physical axes (e.g. spatial, spectral, flux) with variable level of details for the description, this model has been used in several IVOA contexts: Simple Spectral Access Protocol, Spectrum Data Model, ObsTAP (Table Access Protocol for the Core Components of the Observation Data Model. Here we propose a new version which addresses more completely the most detailed level of description (level 4) dealing with variation maps of coverage, resolution, and sampling. It also introduces new specific axes in order to cover various photometric measurements, velocity and polarimetry. Special care is given for composed data sets. These improvements and add-ons follow the evolution of needs expressed to the uptake of VO tools in various observation domains for data discovery but also for data analysis requirements. This is also introduced to tackle use-cases designed to analyse scientifically datasets in the V0 context together with calibration/provenance information., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of ADASS-XXI (Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems)

The International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) developed numerous interoperability standards during the last several years. Most of them are quite simple to implement from the technical point of view and even contain "SIMPLE" in the title. Does it mean that it is also simple to build a working VO resource using those standards? Yes and no. "Yes" because the standards are indeed simple, and "no" because usually one needs to implement a lot more than it was thought in the beginning of the project so the time management of the team becomes difficult. In our presentation we will start with a basic case of a simple spectral data collection. Then we will describe several examples of small" technologically advanced VO resources built in CDS and VO-Paris and will show that many standards are hidden from managers' eyes at the initial stage of the project development. The projects will be: (1) the GalMer database providing access to the results of numerical simulations of galaxy interactions; (2) the full spectrum fitting service that allows one to extract internal kinematics and stellar populations from spectra of galaxies available in the VO. We conclude that: (a) with the existing set of IVOA standards one can already build very advanced VO-enabled archives and tools useful for scientists; (b) managers have to be very careful when estimating the project development timelines for VO-enabled resources., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of ADASS-XXI (Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems)

We present NBursts+phot, a novel technique for the parametric inversion of spectrophotometric data for unresolved stellar populations where high-resolution spectra and broadband SEDs are fitted simultaneously helping to break the degeneracies between parameters of multi-component stellar population models., Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the IAU Symposium 284

The stellar line-of-sight velocity distribution (LOSVD) can be strongly asymmetric in regions where the light contributions of both disc and bulge in spiral and lenticular galaxies are comparable. Existing techniques for the stellar kinematics analysis do not take into account the difference of disc and bulge stellar populations. Here we present a novel approach to the analysis of stellar kinematics and stellar populations. We use a two-component model of spectra where different stellar population components are convolved with pure Gaussian LOSVDs. For this model we present Monte-Carlo simulations demonstrating degeneracies between the parameters., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the proceedings of "The Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies", Preston, UK, 5-9 September 2011

This document defines the high level metadata necessary to describe the physical parameter space of observed or simulated astronomical data sets, such as 2D-images, data cubes, X-ray event lists, IFU data, etc.. The Characterisation data model is an abstraction which can be used to derive a structured description of any relevant data and thus to facilitate its discovery and scientific interpretation. The model aims at facilitating the manipulation of heterogeneous data in any VO framework or portal. A VO Characterisation instance can include descriptions of the data axes, the range of coordinates covered by the data, and details of the data sampling and resolution on each axis. These descriptions should be in terms of physical variables, independent of instrumental signatures as far as possible. Implementations of this model has been described in the IVOA Note available at: http://www.ivoa.net/Documents/latest/ImplementationCharacterisation.html Utypes derived from this version of the UML model are listed and commented in the following IVOA Note: http://www.ivoa.net/Documents/latest/UtypeListCharacterisationDM.html An XML schema has been build up from the UML model and is available at: http://www.ivoa.net/xml/Characterisation/Characterisation-v1.11.xsd, Comment: http://www.ivoa.net

This document defines the core components of the Observation data model that are necessary to perform data discovery when querying data centers for observations of interest. It exposes use-cases to be carried out, explains the model and provides guidelines for its implementation as a data access service based on the Table Access Protocol (TAP). It aims at providing a simple model easy to understand and to implement by data providers that wish to publish their data into the Virtual Observatory. This interface integrates data modeling and data access aspects in a single service and is named ObsTAP. It will be referenced as such in the IVOA registries. There will be a separate document to cover the full Observation data model. In this document, the Observation Data Model Core Components (ObsCoreDM) defines the core components of queryable metadata required for global discovery of observational data. It is meant to allow a single query to be posed to TAP services at multiple sites to perform global data discovery without having to understand the details of the services present at each site. It defines a minimal set of basic metadata and thus allows for a reasonable cost of implementation by data providers. The combination of the ObsCoreDM with TAP is referred to as an ObsTAP service. As with most of the VO Data Models, ObsCoreDM makes use of STC, Utypes, Units and UCDs. The ObsCoreDM can be serialized as a VOTable. ObsCoreDM can make reference to more complete data models such as ObsProvDM (the Observation Provenance Data Model, to come), Characterisation DM, Spectrum DM or Simple Spectral Line Data Model (SSLDM)., Comment: About the IVOA: http://www.ivoa.net; editors: Doug Tody, Alberto Micol, Daniel Durand, Mireille Louys

We present the detailed study of the stellar and gaseous kinematics of the luminous early-type galaxy NGC 524 derived from the long-slit spectroscopic observations obtained with the Russian 6-m telescope and the IFU data from the SAURON survey. The stellar line-of-sight velocity distribution (LOSVD) of NGC 524 exhibits strong asymmetry. We performed the comprehensive analysis of the LOSVD using two complementary approaches implemented on top of the nbursts full spectral fitting technique, (a) a nonparametric LOSVD recovery and (b) a parametric recovery of two Gaussian kinematical components having different stellar populations. We discuss the origin of the complex stellar LOSVD of NGC 524., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of 8th SCSLSA, to appear in Baltic Astronomy

NGC7217 is an unbarred early-type spiral galaxy having a multi-segment exponential light profile and a system of starforming rings of the unknown origin; it also possesses a circumnuclear gaseous polar disc. We analysed new long slit spectroscopic data for NGC7217 and derived the radial distributions of its stellar population parameters and stellar and gaseous kinematics up to the radius of r~100 arcsec (~8 kpc). We performed the dynamical analysis of the galaxy by recovering its velocity ellipsoid at different radii, and estimated the scaleheights of its two exponential discs. The inner exponential stellar disc of NGC7217 appears to be thin and harbours intermediate age stars (t(SSP) ~ 5 Gyr). The outer stellar disc seen between the radii of 4 and 7 kpc is very thick (z0 = 1...3 kpc), metal-poor, [Fe/H]<-0.4 dex, and has predominantly young stars, t(SSP) = 2 Gyr. The remnants of minor mergers of gas-rich satellites with an early-type giant disc galaxy available in the GalMer database well resemble different structural components of NGC7217, suggesting two minor merger events in the past responsible for the formation of the inner polar gaseous disc and large outer starforming ring. Another possibility to form the outer ring is the re-accretion of the tidal streams created by the first minor merger., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS, 12 pages, 10 figures

Although the optical colour-magnitude diagram of galaxies allows one to select red sequence objects, neither can it be used for galaxy classification without additional observational data such as spectra or high-resolution images, nor to identify blue galaxies at unknown redshifts. We show that adding the near ultraviolet colour to the optical CMD reveals a tight relation in the three-dimensional colour-colour-magnitude space smoothly continuing from the "blue cloud" to the "red sequence". We found that 98 per cent of 225,000 low-redshift (Z<0.27) galaxies follow a smooth surface g-r=F(M,NUV-r) with a standard deviation of 0.03-0.07 mag making it the tightest known galaxy photometric relation. There is a strong correlation between morphological types and integrated NUV-r colours. Rare galaxy classes such as E+A or tidally stripped systems become outliers that occupy distinct regions in the 3D parameter space. Using stellar population models for galaxies with different SFHs, we show that (a) the (NUV-r, g-r) distribution is formed by objects having constant and exponentially declining SFR with different characteristic timescales; (b) colour evolution for exponentially declining models goes along the relation suggesting its weak evolution up-to a redshift of 0.9; (c) galaxies with truncated SFHs have very short transition phase offset from the relation thus explaining the rareness of E+A galaxies. This relation can be used as a powerful galaxy classification tool when morphology remains unresolved. Its mathematical consequence is the photometric redshift estimates from 3 broad-band photometric points. This approach works better than most existing photometric redshift techniques applied to multi-colour datasets. Therefore, the relation can be used as an efficient selection technique for galaxies at intermediate redshifts (0.3

We have investigated the stellar population properties in the central regions of a sample of lenticular galaxies with bars and single-exponential outer stellar disks using the data from the SAURON integral-field spectrograph retrieved from the open Isaac Newton Group Archive. We have detected chemically decoupled compact stellar nuclei with a metallicity twice that of the stellar population in the bulges in seven of the eight galaxies. A starburst is currently going on at the center of the eighth galaxy and we have failed to determine the stellar population properties from its spectrum. The mean stellar ages in the chemically decoupled nuclei found range from 1 to 11 Gyr. The scenarios for the origin of both decoupled nuclei and lenticular galaxies as a whole are discussed., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, a slightly edited version of the paper published by Astronomy Letters, v. 37, no.1, 2011

We present a new approach to the sky subtraction for long-slit spectra suitable for low-surface brightness objects based on the controlled reconstruction of the night sky spectrum in the Fourier space using twilight or arc-line frames as references. It can be easily adopted for FLAMINGOS-type multi-slit data. Compared to existing sky subtraction algorithms, our technique is taking into account variations of the spectral line spread along the slit thus qualitatively improving the sky subtraction quality for extended targets. As an example, we show how the stellar metallicity and stellar velocity dispersion profiles in the outer disc of the spiral galaxy NGC 5440 are affected by the sky subtraction quality. Our technique is used in the survey of early-type galaxies carried out at the Russian 6-m telescope, and it strongly increases the scientific potential of large amounts of long-slit data for nearby galaxies available in major data archives., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

We discuss what hampers the rate of scientific progress in our exponentially growing world. The rapid increase in technologies leaves the growth of research result metrics far behind. The reason for this lies in the education of astronomers lacking basic computer science aspects crucially important in the data intensive science era., Comment: talk given at ADASS-XX; to appear in ASP Conference Series; 4 pages

The origin of ultracompact dwarf (UCD) galaxies, compact extragalactic stellar systems, is still a puzzle for present galaxy formation models. We present the comprehensive analysis of high resolution multi-object spectroscopic data for a sample of 24 Fornax cluster UCDs obtained with VLT FLAMES. It comprises previously published data for 19 objects (Mieske et al. 2008) which we re-analysed, including 13 with available HST photometric data. Using Virtual Observatory technologies we found archival HST images for two more UCDs and then determined their structural properties. For all objects we derived internal velocity dispersions, stellar population parameters, and stellar mass-to-light ratios (M/L)* by fitting individual simple stellar population (SSP) synthetic spectra convolved with a Gaussian against the observed spectra using the NBursts full spectral fitting technique. For 14 objects we estimated dynamical masses suggesting no dark matter (DM) in 12 of them and no more than 40 per cent DM mass fraction in the remaining two, in contrast to findings for several UCDs in the Virgo cluster. Some Fornax UCDs even have too high values of (M/L)* estimated using the Kroupa stellar initial mass function (IMF) resulting in negative formally computed DM mass fractions. The objects with too high (M/L)* ratios compared to the dynamical ones have relatively short dynamical relaxation timescales, close to the Hubble time or below. We therefore suggest that their lower dynamical ratios (M/L)dyn are caused by low-mass star depletion due to dynamical evolution. Overall, the observed UCD characteristics suggest at least two formation channels: tidal threshing of nucleated dwarf galaxies for massive UCDs (~10^8 M_sun), and a classical scenario of red globular cluster formation for lower-mass UCDs (< 10^7 M_sun)., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables

We report the discovery of a new cataclysmic variable (CV) among unidentified objects from the ASCA Galactic Plane Survey made using the Virtual Observatory data mining. First, we identified AX J194939+2631 with IPHAS J194938.39+263149.2, the only prominent H-alpha emitter among 400 sources in a 1 arcmin field of the IPHAS survey, then secured as a single faint X-ray source found in an archival Chandra dataset. Spectroscopic follow-up with the 3.5-m Calar Alto telescope confirmed its classification as a CV, possibly of magnetic nature. Our analysis suggests that AX J194939+2631 is a medium distance system (d ~ 0.6 kpc) containing a late-K or early-M type dwarf as a secondary component and a partially disrupted accretion disc revealed by the double-peaked H-alpha line. However, additional deep observations are needed to confirm our tentative classification of this object as an intermediate polar., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

We present the GalMer database, a library of galaxy merger simulations, made available to users through tools compatible with the Virtual Observatory (VO) standards adapted specially for this theoretical database. To investigate the physics of galaxy formation through hierarchical merging, it is necessary to simulate galaxy interactions varying a large number of parameters: morphological types, mass ratios, orbital configurations, etc. On one side, these simulations have to be run in a cosmological context, able to provide a large number of galaxy pairs, with boundary conditions given by the large-scale simulations, on the other side the resolution has to be high enough at galaxy scales, to provide realistic physics. The GalMer database is a library of thousands simulations of galaxy mergers at moderate spatial resolution and it is a compromise between the diversity of initial conditions and the details of underlying physics. We provide all coordinates and data of simulated particles in FITS binary tables. The main advantages of the database are VO access interfaces and value-added services which allow users to compare the results of the simulations directly to observations: stellar population modelling, dust extinction, spectra, images, visualisation using dedicated VO tools. The GalMer value-added services can be used as virtual telescope producing broadband images, 1D spectra, 3D spectral datacubes, thus making our database oriented towards the usage by observers. We present several examples of the GalMer database scientific usage obtained from the analysis of simulations and modelling their stellar population properties, including: (1) studies of the star formation efficiency in interactions; (2) creation of old counter-rotating components; (3) reshaping metallicity profiles in elliptical galaxies; (4) orbital to internal angular momentum transfer; (5) reproducing observed colour bimodality of galaxies., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 10 tables accepted to A&A. Visualisation of GalMer simulations, access to snapshot files and value-added tools described in the paper are available at http://galmer.obspm.fr/

We report the discovery of the second compact elliptical (cE) galaxy SDSSJ150634.27+013331.6 in the nearby NGC5846 group by the Virtual Observatory (VO) workflow . This object (M_B = -15.98 mag, R_e = 0.24 kpc) becomes the fifth cE where the spatially-resolved kinematics and stellar populations can be obtained. We used archival HST WFPC2 images to demonstrate that its light profile has a two-component structure, and integrated photometry from GALEX, SDSS, UKIDSS, and Spitzer to build the multi-wavelength SED to constraint the star formation history (SFH). We observed this galaxy with the PMAS IFU spectrograph at the Calar-Alto 3.5m telescope and obtained two-dimensional maps of its kinematics and stellar population properties using the full-spectral fitting technique. Its structural, dynamical and stellar population properties suggest that it had a massive progenitor heavily tidally stripped by NGC5846., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure, 1 table. Accepted to MNRAS Letters

To compare photometric properties of galaxies at different redshifts, the fluxes need to be corrected for the changes of effective rest-frame wavelengths of filter bandpasses, called K-corrections. Usual approaches to compute them are based on the template fitting of observed spectral energy distributions (SED) and, thus, require multi-colour photometry. Here, we demonstrate that, in cases of widely used optical and near-infrared filters, K-corrections can be precisely approximated as two-dimensional low-order polynomials of only two parameters: redshift and one observed colour. With this minimalist approach, we present the polynomial fitting functions for K-corrections in SDSS ugriz, UKIRT WFCAM YJHK, Johnson-Cousins UBVR_cI_c, and 2MASS JHK_s bands for galaxies at redshifts Z<0.5 based on empirically-computed values obtained by fitting combined optical-NIR SEDs of a set of 10^5 galaxies constructed from SDSS DR7 and UKIDSS DR5 photometry using the Virtual Observatory. For luminous red galaxies we provide K-corrections as functions of their redshifts only. In two filters, g and r, we validate our solutions by computing K-corrections directly from SDSS DR7 spectra. We also present a K-corrections calculator, a web-based service for computing K-corrections on-line., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 25 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. This version contains low-resolution figures. The "K-corrections calculator" service is available at http://kcor.sai.msu.ru/

We have studied stellar and gaseous kinematics as well as stellar population properties in the center of the early-type barred galaxy NGC 4245 by means of integral-field spectroscopy. We have found a chemically distinct compact core, more metal-rich by a factor of 2.5 than the bulge, and a ring of young stars with the radius of 300 pc. Current star formation proceeds in this ring; its location corresponds to the inner Lindblad resonance of the large-scale bar. The mean age of stars in the chemically distinct core is significantly younger than the estimate by Sarzi et al. (2005) for the very center, within R=0.25", made with the HST spectroscopy data. We conclude that the `chemically distinct core' is in fact an ancient ultra-compact star forming ring with radius less than 100 pc which marks perhaps the past position of the inner Lindblad resonance. In general, the pattern of star formation history in the center of this early-type gas-poor galaxy confirms the predictions of dynamical models for the secular evolution of a stellar-gaseous disk under the influence of a bar., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in "Tumbling, twisting, and winding galaxies: Pattern speeds along the Hubble sequence", E. M. Corsini and V. P. Debattista (eds.), Memorie della Societa` Astronomica Italiana

Nowadays, Virtual Observatory standards, resources, and services became powerful enough to help astronomers making real science on everyday basis. The key to the VO success is its entire transparency for a scientific user. This allows an astronomer to combine "online" VO-enabled parts with "offline" research stages including dedicated data processing and analysis, observations, numerical simulations; and helps to overpass one of the major issues that most present-day VO studies do not go further than data mining. Here we will present three VO-powered research projects combining VO and non-VO blocks, all of them resulted in peer-reviewed publications., Comment: Proceedings of the ADASS-XIX conference, 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in ASP Conf. Series

Compact elliptical galaxies are characterized by small sizes and high stellar densities. They are thought to form through tidal stripping of massive progenitors. However, only a handful of them were known, preventing us from understanding the role played by this mechanism in galaxy evolution. We present a population of 21 compact elliptical galaxies gathered with the Virtual Observatory. Follow-up spectroscopy and data mining, using high-resolution images and large databases, show that all the galaxies exhibit old metal-rich stellar populations different from those of dwarf elliptical galaxies of similar masses but similar to those of more massive early-type galaxies, supporting the tidal stripping scenario. Their internal properties are reproduced by numerical simulations, which result in compact dynamically hot remnants resembling the galaxies in our sample., Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Science in press, published in Science Express on 1/Oct/2009. Full resolution figures in the supplementary online material are available from the Science Magazine web-site

The radial velocities are measured for 45 galaxies located in the neighborhoods of 29 likely isolated galaxies in a new catalog. We find that about 85% of these galaxies actually are well isolated objects. 4% of nearby galaxies with V_LG<3500 km/s are this kind of cosmic "orphan"., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures

Lenticular galaxies are believed to form by a combination of environmental effects and secular evolution. We study the nearby disc-dominated S0 galaxy NGC 6340 photometrically and spectroscopically to understand the mechanisms of S0 formation and evolution in groups. We use SDSS images to build colour maps and light profile of NGC 6340 which we decompose using a three-component model including Sersic and two exponential profiles. We also use Spitzer images to study the morphology of regions containing warm ISM and dust. Then, we re-process and re-analyse deep long-slit spectroscopic data for NGC 6340 and recover its stellar and gas kinematics, distribution of age and metallicity with the NBursts full spectral fitting. We obtain the profiles of internal kinematics, age, and metallicity out to >2 half-light radii. The three structural components of NGC 6340 are found to have distinct kinematical and stellar population properties. We see a kinematical misalignment between inner and outer regions of the galaxy. We confirm the old metal-rich centre and a wrapped inner gaseous polar disc (r~1 kpc) having weak ongoing star formation, counter-rotating in projection with respect to the stars. The central compact pseudo-bulge of NGC 6340 looks very similar to compact elliptical galaxies. In accordance with the results of numerical simulations, we conclude that properties of NGC 6340 can be explained as the result of a major merger of early-type and spiral galaxies which occurred about 12 Gyr ago. The intermediate exponential structure might be a triaxial pseudo-bulge formed by a past bar structure. The inner compact bulge could be the result of a nuclear starburst triggered by the merger. The inner polar disc appeared recently, 1/3-1/2 Gyr ago as a result of another minor merger or cold gas accretion., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted to A&A

We present the first 3D spectroscopic observations of a nearby HI detected poststarburst, or E+A, galaxy, SDSS J230743.41+152558.4, obtained with the VIMOS IFU spectrograph at ESO VLT. Using the NBursts full spectral fitting technique, we derive maps of stellar kinematics, age, and metallicity out to 2-3 half-light radii. Our analysis reveals a large-scale rapidly rotating disc (v_circ = 300km/s) with a positive age gradient (0.6 to 1.5 Gyr), and a very metal-rich central region ([Fe/H]=+0.25 dex). If a merger or interaction is responsible for triggering the starburst, the presence of this undisturbed disc suggests a minor merger with a gas-rich satellite as the most plausible option, rather than a disruptive major merger. We find spectroscopic evidence for the presence of a LINER or AGN. This is an important clue to the feedback mechanism that truncated the starburst. The presently observed quiescent phase may well be a temporary episode in the galaxy's life. SDSS J230743.41+152558.4 is gas-rich and may restart forming stars, again becoming blue before finally settling at the red sequence., Comment: accepted for publication by Astrophysical Journal Letters, 9 pages, 4 figures

After several years of intensive technological development Virtual Observatory resources have reached a level of maturity sufficient for their routine scientific exploitation. The Virtual Observatory is starting to be used by astronomers in a transparent way. In this article I will review several research projects making use of the VO at different levels of importance. I will present two projects going further than data mining: (1) studies of environmental effects on galaxy evolution, where VO resources and services are used in connection with dedicated observations using a large telescope and numerical simulations, and (2) a study of optical and near-infrared colours of nearby galaxies complemented by the spectroscopic data., Comment: invited talk at the Multi-wavelength Astronomy and Virtual Observatory Workshop. European Space Astronomy Centre, Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain, 1-3 Dec 2008: 7 pages, 4 figures

Understanding the origin and evolution of dwarf early-type galaxies remains an important open issue in modern astrophysics. Internal kinematics of a galaxy contains signatures of violent phenomena which may have occurred, e.g. mergers or tidal interactions, while stellar population keeps a fossil record of the star formation history, therefore studying connection between them becomes crucial for understanding galaxy evolution. Here, in the first paper of the series, we present the data on spatially resolved stellar populations and internal kinematics for a large sample of dwarf elliptical (dE) and lenticular (dS0) galaxies in the Virgo cluster. We obtained radial velocities, velocity dispersions, stellar ages and metallicities out to 1--2 half-light radii by re-analysing already published long-slit and integral-field spectroscopic datasets using the {\sc NBursts} full spectral fitting technique. Surprisingly, bright representatives of the dE/dS0 class ($M_B = -18.0 ... -16.0$ mag) look very similar to intermediate-mass and giant lenticulars and ellipticals: (1) their nuclear regions often harbour young metal-rich stellar populations always associated with the drops in the velocity dispersion profiles; (2) metallicity gradients in the main discs/spheroids vary significantly from nearly flat profiles to -0.9 dex $r_e^{-1}$, i.e. somewhat 3 times steeper than for typical bulges; (3) kinematically decoupled cores were discovered in 4 galaxies, including two with very little, if any, large scale rotation. These results suggest similarities in the evolutionary paths of dwarf and giant early-type galaxies and call for reconsidering the role of major mergers in the dE/dS0 evolution., Comment: 22 pages, 3 tables, 29 figures, accepted to MNRAS

We analyse intermediate-resolution VLT FLAMES/Giraffe spectra of six ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies in the Fornax cluster. We obtained velocity dispersions and stellar population properties by full spectral fitting against PEGASE.HR models. Objects span a large range of metallicities (-0.95 to -0.23 dex), 4 of them are older than 8 Gyr. Comparison of the stellar and dynamical masses suggests that UCDs have little dark matter at best. For one object, UCD3, the Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) results in the stellar mass significantly exceeding the dynamical one, whereas for the Kroupa IMF the values coincide. Although, this object may have peculiar dynamics or/and stellar populations, the Kroupa IMF seems more realistic. We find that UCDs lie well above the metallicity-luminosity relation of early-type galaxies. The same behaviour is demonstrated by some of the massive Milky Way globular clusters, known to contain composite stellar populations. Our results support two following UCD formation scenarii: (1) tidal stripping of nucleated dwarf elliptical galaxies; (2) formation of tidal superclusters in galaxy mergers. We also discuss some of the alternative channels of the UCD formation binding them to globular clusters., Comment: accepted to MNRAS, 7 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables

The analysis of weak variations in the energetic particle flux, as detected by neutron or muon monitors, can often be considerably improved by analysing data from monitor networks and thereby exploiting the spatial coherence of the flux. We present a statistical framework for carrying out such an analysis and discuss its physical interpretation. Two other applications are also presented: filling data gaps and removing trends. This study focuses on the method and its various uses., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

The morphology and stellar populations of low-luminosity early-type galaxies in clusters have until now been limited to a few relatively nearby clusters such as Virgo or Fornax. Scenarii for the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies in clusters are therefore not well constrained. We investigate here the morphology and stellar populations of low-luminosity galaxies in the relaxed cluster Abell 496 (z=0.0330). Deep multiband imaging obtained with the CFHT Megacam allowed us to select a sample of faint galaxies (-18.8