ALBERT

Description: We analyse the morphological structures in galaxies of the ATLAS 3D sample by fitting a single Sérsic profile and decomposing all non-barred objects (180 of 260 objects) in two components parametrized by an exponential and a general Sérsic function. The aim of this analysis is to look for signatures of discs in light distributions of nearby early-type galaxies and compare them to kinematic properties. Using Sérsic index from single-component fits for a distinction between slow and fast rotators, or even late- and early-type galaxies, is not recommended. Assuming that objects with n  〉 3 are slow rotators (or ellipticals), there is only a 22 per cent probability to correctly classify objects as slow rotators (or 37 per cent of previously classified as ellipticals). We show that exponential sub-components, as well as light profiles fitted with only a single component of a low Sérsic index, can be linked with the kinematic evidence for discs in early-type galaxies. The median disc-to-total light ratio for fast and slow rotators is 0.41 and 0.0, respectively. Similarly, the median Sérsic indices of the bulge (general Sérsic component) are 1.7 and 4.8 for fast and slow rotators, respectively. Overall, discs or disc-like structures are present in 83 per cent of early-type galaxies which do not have bars, and they show a full range of disc-to-total light ratios. Discs in early-type galaxies contribute with about 40 per cent to the total mass of the analysed (non-barred) objects. The decomposition into discs and bulges can be used as a rough approximation for the separation between fast and slow rotators, but it is not a substitute, as there is only a 59 per cent probability to correctly recognize slow rotators. We find trends between the angular momentum and the disc-to-total light ratios and the Sérsic index of the bulge, in the sense that high angular momentum galaxies have large disc-to-total light ratios and small bulge indices, but there is none between the angular momentum and the global Sérsic index. We investigate the inclination effects on the decomposition results and confirm that strong exponential profiles can be distinguished even at low inclinations, but medium-size discs are difficult to quantify using photometry alone at inclinations lower than ~50°. Kinematics (i.e. projected angular momentum) remains the best approach to mitigate the influence of the inclination effects. We also find weak trends with mass and environmental density, where disc-dominated galaxies are typically less massive and found at all densities, including the densest region sampled by the ATLAS 3D sample.

Description: We present a detailed study of the physical properties of the molecular gas in a sample of 18 molecular gas-rich early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the ATLAS 3D sample. Our goal is to better understand the star formation processes occurring in those galaxies, starting here with the dense star-forming gas. We use existing integrated 12 CO (1–0, 2–1), 13 CO (1–0, 2–1), HCN (1–0) and HCO + (1–0) observations and new 12 CO (3–2) single-dish data. From these, we derive for the first time the average kinetic temperature, H 2 volume density and column density of the emitting gas in a significant sample of ETGs, using a non-local thermodynamical equilibrium theoretical model. Since the CO lines trace different physical conditions than of those the HCN and HCO + lines, the two sets of lines are treated separately. For most of the molecular gas-rich ETGs studied here, the CO transitions can be reproduced with kinetic temperatures of 10–20 K, H 2 volume densities of 10 3–4 cm –3 and CO column densities of $10^{18\text{--}20}$ cm –2 . The physical conditions corresponding to the HCN and HCO + gas component have large uncertainties and must be considered as indicative only. We also compare for the first time the predicted CO spectral line energy distributions and gas properties of our molecular gas-rich ETGs with those of a sample of nearby well-studied disc galaxies. The gas excitation conditions in 13 of our 18 ETGs appear analogous to those in the centre of the Milky Way, hence the star formation activity driving these conditions is likely of a similar strength and nature. Such results have never been obtained before for ETGs and open a new window to explore further star-formation processes in the Universe. The conclusions drawn should nevertheless be considered carefully, as they are based on a limited number of observations and on a simple model. In the near future, with higher CO transition observations, it should be possible to better identify the various gas components present in ETGs, as well as more precisely determine their associated physical conditions. To achieve these goals, we show here from our theoretical study, that mid- J CO lines [such as the 12 CO (6–5) line] are particularly useful.

Description: We present the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) ATLAS 3D molecular gas imaging survey, a systematic study of the distribution and kinematics of molecular gas in CO-rich early-type galaxies. Our full sample of 40 galaxies (30 newly mapped and 10 taken from the literature) is complete to a 12 CO(1–0) integrated flux of 18.5 Jy km s –1 , 1 and it represents the largest, best studied sample of its type to date. A comparison of the CO distribution of each galaxy to the g  – r colour image (representing dust) shows that the molecular gas and dust distributions are in good agreement and trace the same underlying interstellar medium. The galaxies exhibit a variety of CO morphologies, including discs (50 per cent), rings (15 per cent), bars+rings (10 per cent), spiral arms (5 per cent) and mildly (12.5 per cent) and strongly (7.5 per cent) disrupted morphologies. There appear to be weak trends between galaxy mass and CO morphology, whereby the most massive galaxies in the sample tend to have molecular gas in a disc morphology. We derive a lower limit to the total accreted molecular gas mass across the sample of 2.48  x 10 10 M , or approximately 8.3  x 10 8 M per minor merger within the sample, consistent with minor merger stellar mass ratios.

Description: For early-type galaxies, the ability to sustain a corona of hot, X-ray-emitting gas could have played a key role in quenching their star formation history. A halo of hot gas may act as an effective shield against the acquisition of cold gas and can quickly absorb stellar mass loss material. Yet, since the discovery by the Einstein Observatory of such X-ray haloes around early-type galaxies, the precise amount of hot gas around these galaxies still remains a matter of debate. By combining homogeneously derived photometric and spectroscopic measurements for the early-type galaxies observed as part of the ATLAS 3D integral field survey with measurements of their X-ray luminosity based on X-ray data of both low and high spatial resolution (for 47 and 19 objects, respectively) we conclude that the hot gas content of early-type galaxies can depend on their dynamical structure. Specifically, whereas slow rotators generally have X-ray haloes with luminosity L X, gas and temperature T values that are well in line with what is expected if the hot gas emission is sustained by the thermalization of the kinetic energy carried by the stellar mass loss material, fast rotators tend to display L X, gas values that fall consistently below the prediction of this model, with similar T values that do not scale with the stellar kinetic energy (traced by the stellar velocity dispersion) as observed in the case of slow rotators. Such a discrepancy between the hot gas content of slow and fast rotators would appear to reduce, or even disappear, for large values of the dynamical mass (above ~3  x 10 11 M ), with younger fast rotators displaying also somewhat larger L X, gas values possibly owing to the additional energy input from recent supernovae explosions. Considering that fast rotators are likely to be intrinsically flatter than slow rotators, and that the few L X, gas -deficient slow rotators also happen to be relatively flat, the observed L X, gas deficiency in these objects would support the hypothesis whereby flatter galaxies have a harder time in retaining their hot gas, although we suggest that the degree of rotational support could further hamper the efficiency with which the kinetic energy of the stellar mass loss material is thermalized in the hot gas. We discuss the implications that a different hot gas content could have on the fate of both acquired and internally produced gaseous material, considering in particular how the L X, gas deficiency of fast rotators would make them more capable to recycle the stellar mass loss material into new stars than slow rotators. This would be consistent with the finding that molecular gas and young stellar populations are detected only in fast rotators across the entire ATLAS 3D sample, and that fast rotators tend to have a larger specific dust mass content than slow rotators.

Description: We present the results of a high-resolution, 5 GHz, Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array study of the nuclear radio emission in a representative subset of the atlas 3D survey of early-type galaxies (ETGs). We find that 51 ± 4 per cent of the ETGs in our sample contain nuclear radio emission with luminosities as low as 10 18 W Hz –1 . Most of the nuclear radio sources have compact (25–110 pc) morphologies, although ~10 per cent display multicomponent core+jet or extended jet/lobe structures. Based on the radio continuum properties, as well as optical emission line diagnostics and the nuclear X-ray properties, we conclude that the majority of the central 5 GHz sources detected in the atlas 3D galaxies are associated with the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, even at subarcsecond spatial resolution, the nuclear radio emission in some cases appears to arise from low-level nuclear star formation rather than an AGN, particularly when molecular gas and a young central stellar population is present. This is in contrast to popular assumptions in the literature that the presence of a compact, unresolved, nuclear radio continuum source universally signifies the presence of an AGN. Additionally, we examine the relationships between the 5 GHz luminosity and various galaxy properties including the molecular gas mass and – for the first time – the global kinematic state. We discuss implications for the growth, triggering, and fuelling of radio AGNs, as well as AGN-driven feedback in the continued evolution of nearby ETGs.

Description: NGC 4203 is a nearby early-type galaxy surrounded by a very large, low-column-density H i disc. In this paper, we study the star formation efficiency in the gas disc of NGC 4203 by using the UV, deep optical imaging and infrared data. We confirm that the H i disc consists of two distinct components: an inner star-forming ring with radius from ~1 to ~3 R eff and an outer disc. The outer H i disc is nine times more massive than the inner H i ring. At the location of the inner H i ring, we detect spiral-like structure both in the deep g ' –  r ' image and in the 8 μm Spitzer -Infrared Array Camera image, extending in radius up to ~ 3 R eff . These two gas components have a different star formation efficiency likely due to the different metallicity and dust content. The inner component has a star formation efficiency very similar to the inner regions of late-type galaxies. Although the outer component has a very low star formation efficiency, it is similar to that of the outer regions of spiral galaxies and dwarfs. We suggest that these differences can be explained with different gas origins for the two components such as stellar mass loss for the inner H i ring and accretion from the inter galactic medium for the outer H i disc. The low-level star formation efficiency in the outer H i disc is not enough to change the morphology of NGC 4203, making the depletion time of the H i gas much too long.

Description: We present observations of 13 CO(1–0) in 17 Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy ATLAS 3D early-type galaxies (ETGs), obtained simultaneously with 12 CO(1–0) observations. The 13 CO in six ETGs is sufficiently bright to create images. In these six sources, we do not detect any significant radial gradient in the 13 CO/ 12 CO ratio between the nucleus and the outlying molecular gas. Using the 12 CO channel maps as 3D masks to stack the 13 CO emission, we are able to detect 15/17 galaxies to 〉3 (and 12/17 to at least 5) significance in a spatially integrated manner. Overall, ETGs show a wide distribution of 13 CO/ 12 CO ratios, but Virgo cluster and group galaxies preferentially show a 13 CO/ 12 CO ratio about two times larger than field galaxies, although this could also be due to a mass dependence, or the CO spatial extent ( R CO / R e ). ETGs whose gas has a morphologically settled appearance also show boosted 13 CO/ 12 CO ratios. We hypothesize that this variation could be caused by (i) the extra enrichment of gas from molecular reprocessing occurring in low-mass stars (boosting the abundance of 13 C to 12 C in the absence of external gas accretion), (ii) much higher pressure being exerted on the mid-plane gas (by the intracluster medium) in the cluster environment than in isolated galaxies, or (iii) all but the densest molecular gas clumps being stripped as the galaxies fall into the cluster. Further observations of 13 CO in dense environments, particularly of spirals, as well as studies of other isotopologues, should be able to distinguish between these hypotheses.

Description: NGC 4203 is a nearby early-type galaxy surrounded by a very large, low-column-density H i disc. In this paper, we study the star formation efficiency in the gas disc of NGC 4203 by using the UV, deep optical imaging and infrared data. We confirm that the H i disc consists of two distinct components: an inner star-forming ring with radius from ~1 to ~3 R eff and an outer disc. The outer H i disc is nine times more massive than the inner H i ring. At the location of the inner H i ring, we detect spiral-like structure both in the deep g ' –  r ' image and in the 8 μm Spitzer -Infrared Array Camera image, extending in radius up to ~ 3 R eff . These two gas components have a different star formation efficiency likely due to the different metallicity and dust content. The inner component has a star formation efficiency very similar to the inner regions of late-type galaxies. Although the outer component has a very low star formation efficiency, it is similar to that of the outer regions of spiral galaxies and dwarfs. We suggest that these differences can be explained with different gas origins for the two components such as stellar mass loss for the inner H i ring and accretion from the inter galactic medium for the outer H i disc. The low-level star formation efficiency in the outer H i disc is not enough to change the morphology of NGC 4203, making the depletion time of the H i gas much too long.

Description: Using parsec-resolution simulations of a typical galaxy merger, we study the triggering of starbursts by connecting the (inter-)galactic dynamics to the structure of the interstellar medium. The gravitational encounter between two galaxies enhances tidal compression over large volumes, which increases and modifies the turbulence, in particular its compressive mode with respect to the solenoidal one. This generates an excess of dense gas leading to intense star formation activity. Along the interaction, the compressive turbulence modifies the efficiency of gas-to-star conversion which, in the Schmidt–Kennicutt diagram, drives the galaxies from the sequence of discs to that of starbursts.