Galaxies course essey

Ultra-Compact Dwarf Galaxies

Genoveva Micheva genoveva@astro.su.se

CONTENTS

UCD Galaxies

Contents
1 History 1.1 The Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey . . . . . . 1.2 Follow-up with the VLT/Keck . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 UCDs in Abell1689 with the HST ACS . . . . . . . . 1.4 The Fornax Compact Object Survey(FCOS) . . . . . 1.5 Observations of the Virgo Cluster with the 2dF AAT 2 Discussion 3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 12

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1.1

History
The Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey

Ultra-Compact Dwarf galaxies(UCDs) were rst observed in the Twodegree Field (2dF) Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey (FCSS) at the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope(AAT) (Drinkwater et al. 2001, Phillips et al. 2001) [1, 2]. The survey provided a complete spectroscopic sample of all objects in the magnitude range 16.5 < bJ < 19.7, regardless of morphology, i.e. star or galaxy, with the aim to detect all dwarf galaxies in an area centered on the Fornax Cluster1 . The FCSS gave four unresolved objects and a fth marginally resolved2 .

Figure 1:

HST UCDs in Fornax Figure taken from Drinkwater et al(2004) [8].

Drinkwater et al. found a new population of Fornax Cluster dwarf galaxies that are unlike any known type of stellar system, being so compact that they were previously mistaken for stars in the Galaxy, see gure 1. Their redshift indicates, however, that they are members of the Fornax Cluster. These 5 objects were named Ultra-Compact Dwarfs(UCDs) due to their appearance. They have intrinsic sizes of 100pc and absolute MB in the range 14.0 < MB < 11.5. The spectra obtained with the FCSS show them to be old stellar systems - no Balmer lines are detected. The UCDs are smaller
Fornax cluster distance 20M pc. Central massive galaxy - NGC1399. Resolved means that the object would have to be larger than the PSF of the telescope and does not appear as a point source.
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1.2 Follow-up with the VLT/Keck

UCD Galaxies

and more concentrated than any known dwarf galaxy, but are 2-3 magnitudes more luminous than the largest globular clusters in the Galaxy. The only known objects they resemble both in luminosity and morphology are the nuclei of nucleated dwarf ellipticals(dE,N) but without the surrounding low surface brightness envelope. The Fornax UCDs have luminosities of 13.4 < MV < 11.9 mag, which is intermediate between typical globular clusters of MV 8 mag3 and normal 4 dwarf galaxies of 16 MV 11 mag. Since the UCDs thus suggest to occupy the empty space in the Kormendy diagram between globular clusters and dwarf ellipticals, this teams interpretation is that the UCDs are the stripped nuclei of dwarf elliptical galaxies and as such are a new tracer of galaxy disruption processes in clusters, see gure 3.

Figure 2: Properties of the Fornax UCDs as measured with the 2dF AAT. Table taken from Drinkwater et al(2004) [8]

1.2

Follow-up with the VLT/Keck

Drinkwater et al.(2004) [8] further observed the UCDs with VLT UV Echelle Spectrograph(UVES) and the Keck Telescope Echelle Spectrograph to study the internal dynamics, and estimate the masses. Their results indicate that the internal velocity dispersion for the Fornax UCDs ranges from 24 to 37 kms1 , which is considerably higher than those of Galactic globular clusters, see gure 3. Assuming the UCDs are dynamically relaxed systems one can use their sizes and velocity dispersions to estimate their masses. Using a Kings model mass estimator they obtain masses of 1-5 107 M for the UCDs, compared to 1.4 107 M for a dE,N galaxy nucleus and around 4106 M for the most massive globular clusters. With all ve Fornax UCDs spatially resolved in these observations their eective radii could be measured
-Cen, the brightest cluster in the Milky Way has an absolute magnitude MV mag 4 normal here means dE or dSph.
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10.2

1.3 UCDs in Abell1689 with the HST ACS

UCD Galaxies

Figure 3:

Kormendy diagram. Plot taken from Drinkwater et al(2004) [8].

to lie between 10 and 30 pc, see gure 2. Additionally, a lower surface brightness compact halo was detected around one of the UCDs. Using complementary HST data to measure the total V-band luminosities of the UCDs, the derived UCD mass-to-light ratios were (M/L) = 2-4 (M/L) , which is greater than the mass-to-light for typical globular clusters, (M/L) (M/L) . It is worth pointing out that star clusters are expected to have low M/L values, whereas compact galaxies would have higher M/L values, due to dark matter. Even though the mass-to-light ratio for UCDs is higher than that of globulars, oppinions dier on the existance of dark matter halos in galaxies at such low masses.

1.3

UCDs in Abell1689 with the HST ACS

Mieske and Infante(2004) [10] searched for UCDs in Abell1689 with the HST Advanced Camera for Surverys(ACS). They found at least 10 possible UCDs with 12.7 < MV < 11.5 mag. The UCDs in Abell1689 were brighter and larger than the Fornax UCDs.

1.4 The Fornax Compact Object Survey(FCOS)

UCD Galaxies

1.4

The Fornax Compact Object Survey(FCOS)

Mieske et al. 2004 [7] attempted to close the magnitude gap between the UCDs and bright GCs. To this end, they have carried out the Fornax Compact Object Survery (FCOS). In order to separate Fornax members from Milky Way stars and background galaxies, a velocity slice of 550 kms1 < vrad < 2400 kms1 was considered, where vrad is the radial velocity. The mean radial velocity for Fornax members is 1425 45 kms1 , with a velocity dispersion of = 326+42 kms1 . This refers to the entire sample of detected Fornax 32 compact objects, not just the UCDs. This vrad is consistent with previous results concerning globular clusters. Since the sample of compact objects belonging to Fornax was too small, the authors were unable to make any quantitative statements regarding any difference between radial velocity, magnitude, color and distribution in space of the UCDs compared to the other objects in the sample. Nevertheless, plotting the apparent V magnitude vs. the radial velocity in gure 4, shows that the bright5 FCOS Fornax members have a higher mean velocity than the faint ones. The fainter objects agree with the GC System better than the brighter ones.

Apparent V magnitude plotted vs radial velocity. Crosses: All FCOS Fornax members. The UCDs are those brighter than V = 19.5 mag(shaded area). Plot taken from Mieske et al(2004) [7].

Figure 4:

Bright here means mV < 20 mag, faint is mV > 20 mag.

1.5 Observations of the Virgo Cluster with the 2dF AAT

UCD Galaxies

1.5

Observations of the Virgo Cluster with the 2dF AAT

The discovery of UCDs in the Fornax Cluster raises the question of how common these type of galaxies are in clusters and whether the local environment in a cluster aects their number densities or properties. It is thus necessary to check the existance of UCDs in other galaxy clusters such as Virgo. A detection of UCDs around the Virgo Cluster would be informative as it would indicate that their membership in galaxy clusters is paramount to their existance.

Figure 5: UCDs in the Virgo Cluster. Optical images. Each frame is 2 wide, north is up. Figure taken from Jones et al. 2005

Figure 6:

Properties of the VUCDs. Table taken from Jones et al. 2005

Since the Virgo cluster is several times less dense than Fornax, Jones et al.(2005) [9] expected to nd fewer UCDs per volume. However, they found 9 Virgo UCDs(VUCDs) within a distance of 14 to 150 kpc of M 87, see gure 5 and 6. The absolute magnitudes of these objects range from MB = 12.9 6

UCD Galaxies

to 10.7, which is similar to the ones found in the Fornax Cluster, with MB = 13.8 to 11.6. From gure 7 is it clear that these are old stellar populations.

Figure 7:

Spectra of the 9 VUCDs. Figure taken from Jones et al. 2005 [9]

Discussion

To recap, the UCDs have luminosities, sizes and velocity dispersions similar to the cores of nucleated dwarf galaxies both in the Fornax and Virgo clusters but are larger and have brighter mass-to-light ratios than even the largest globular clusters. In a Kormendy diagram, gure 3, the UCDs lie well o the globular cluster L 1.7 relation, lling a previously unoccupied part of the diagram, but on an extrapolation of the elliptical galaxy L 4 Faber-Jackson law. Many theories have been suggested in an attempt to explain their formation. Perhaps the simplest one is that these compact objects are simply super massive globular clusters. Mieske et al. (2001) [5] suggest that the four (at that time) unresolved objects detected in the Fornax Cluster are in fact globulars at the high luminosity end. With the later VLT observations the UCDs were spacially resolved, however, and their sizes, while very compact and small indeed, outsize typical globular cluster scales of 3 pc. Nevertheless, Mieske et al.(2004) [7] claim that one cannot readily discard the possibility of UCDs

UCD Galaxies

being GCs even though Drinkwater et al.(2004) [8] nd that in the velocity dispersion-absolute magnitude (-M ) diagram, aka. Kormendy diagram, the UCDs lie o the extrapolation of the relation dened by the GCs and rather appear to follow the Faber-Jackson relation for ellipticals. Mieske et al. argue that as this disagreement of the UCD values is only with respect to the extrapolation of the GC relation dened at fainter magnitudes and is thus an insucient condition to separate UCDs from GCs. In other words we do not know where GCs at the brighter end would lie in a Kormendy diagram. Fellhauer and Kroupa [4, 5] examine the possibility of the UCDs being

Figure 8: Magnitude vs surface brightness for dE,N and UCDs. 2.5 upper limits used for the UCDs, shown as arrows. The two UCDs with formal detections are shown as squares. Virgo(large circles) and Fornax(small circles) dE,N galaxies are shown for comparison. Figure taken from Jones et al. 2005 formed through the merging of stellar super-clusters in a tidal eld. The UCDS could have evolved through a phase of violent star-cluster interactions to form a young stellar super cluster, which itself will turn into an object with similar properties as the UCDs after having aged several Gyrs. Even for highly eccentric orbits these merger objects are stable when subject to strong tides and maintain most of their mass after 10Gyrs. As an example one could consider the interactions of gas-rich disk galaxies like the Antennae, who produce knots of intense star-formation, which result in clusters of massive young star clusters6 that have masses ranging from 107 to
These clusters of star clusters are not to be confused with super stellar clusters. The latter are individual massive star clusters.
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Figure 9:

Plot Plot taken from Drinkwater et al. 2004 [8]

108 M and dimensions of a few hundred pc. N-body simulations of superclusters demonstrate that they are very likely to merge, resulting in compact merger objects with sizes spanning from massive globular clusters like Omega Centaurus (-Cen) to Ultra-Compact Dwarfs up to very small dwarf ellipticals. Thus, merging of gas-rich galaxies folowed by interaction-triggered star-formation are possible origins for second-generation dwarf galaxies. Fellhauer and Kroupa [6] further speculate if the most massive GC -Cen could be a UCD, since it shows signs of rotation and has unusual properties for a GC, such as star populations of dierent ages and metallicity. However, the N-body simulations for -Cen give a merger object that is too large and not heavy enough compared to -Cen. Could the UCDs be the nuclei of extremely low surface brightness nucleated dE,N galaxies? This possibility was considered both by Drinkwater et al. (2001,2004 [1, 8]) and Jones et al.(2005) [9] but quickly discarded - gures 8 and 9 show that the UCDs are displaced from the dE,N galaxies by 5-6 magnitudes in surface brightness. Careful analysis of UCD images shows no sign of low-luminosity envelopes around the UCDs in the Fornax surveys (Drinkwater et al. 2001,2004 [1, 8], Mieske et al. 2004 [7]). There are two UCDs in the Virgo survey with detected low surface brightness envelopes, VUCD #6 and VUCD #7 (Jones et al. 2005 [9]). However, VUCD #6 has three discreet sources within 6 of its center, while VUCD #7 has several sources within both 10 and 20 . Even though the sources were masked 9

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out, residual signal may still be contaminating the signal from the VUCDs. Therefore it is not possible to claim with any condence that there are extended halos around the VUCDs. Perhaps the most popular theory on UCD formation is they are the remnant nuclei of stripped dwarf galaxies which have lost their outer parts in the course of tidal interaction in a process called galaxy threshing. Bekki, Couch and Drinkwater(2001) [3] carry out computer simulations involving a template dwarf galaxy interacting with a massive central galaxy(NGC1399) in the Fornax clusters potential to test the galaxy threshing scenario. The simulations show how nucleated dSph galaxies would evolve dynamically under the strong tidal eld of NGC1399. After about 4 passages the dwarf loses its envelope almost entirely. The central nucleus also loses mass, but a small amount ( 18%). Since it is compact enough it survives. Varying the parameters of the simulation shows that not all nucleated dwarfs can be transformed into UCDs by tidal stripping. The two major implications from this simulation are that the stellar population in the UCDs is unlikely to be young, because tidal stripping takes a long time and that the luminosity function of the UCDs is not necessarily similar to that of the nuclei of nucleated dwarfs because tidal stripping is a selective process: the extraction of the nucleus depends strongly on the orbits and masses of the dwarfs. Since the repeated simulations of Bekki et al.(2003) [11] result in a galaxy threshing that leaves a low surface brightness envelope around the nuclei of the dwarf, a detection of such envelopes around UCDs would be necessary to formally support the galaxy threshing formation scenario. As previously mentioned, only two UCDs in the Virgo cluster have such detections and those are highly uncertain. Further, necessary conditions for the progenitor dwarf would have to be a very eccentric orbit and a suciently high mass to partially survive the tidal disruption, as well as a shallow dark matter core in order to allow substantial tidal disruption. These conditions are qualitatively consistent with the radial distribution of the UCDs found by Drinkwater et al. (2001,2004 [1, 8]) and Phillipps et al. (2001 [2]). Mieske et al. 2004 [7] nd supporting evidence for the galaxy threshing scenario. They argue that in a Color-Magnitude diagram (CMD) during the course of the transformation from dE,N to UCD, a galaxy would move in the magnitude-axis by the amount corresponding to its luminosity-loss. Its CM relation is thus shifted redwards producing a magnitude dierence between the original dE,N and the nal UCD of 4.1 mag. This would bring the CM relation very close to the one found in Mieske et al. (2004 [7]). However, one needs to assume that the nucleus has the same color as the entire host galaxy and that the stellar population does not change during the threshing, so that only the mass and thereby the luminosity decrease during the pro10

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Figure 10:

Fields 1,2,3 of the FCSS. Cluster members are solid points, possible members are open circles. Size scales by apparent magnitude. The 6 UCDS are shown as crosses, UCD 6 is labeled. Figure taken from Jones et al. 2005

cess. On average this is not true. The nuclei are found to vary, being about 0.07 mag bluer than the underlying host galaxy. Mieske et al. [10] further argue that the UCDs found in Abell1689 are brighter and larger than the Fornax and Virgo UCDs because they are in an intermediate stage of the stripping process. Jones et al. (2005 [9]) nd additional circumstancial evidence supporting both the galaxy threshing and the star cluster merging scenario. They examine two additional elds in the Fornax cluster, see gure 10. There are no UCDs detected in elds 2 and 3, despite similar selection criteria as in eld 1. This suggests that the existance of UCDs is strongly related to the presence of a massive central galaxy in a dense environment. If their birth was not through merging of star clusters or galaxy threshing one would expect to detect them also at large distances from the cluster center. Instead, they are all found inside a radius of 170 kpc of the cluster center.

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UCD Galaxies

References

References
[1] M. Drinkwater, K. Bekki, W. Couch, S. Phillipps, B. jones, M. Gregg Ultra-Compact dwarf galaxies: a new class of compact stellar system discovered in the Fornax Cluster, astro-ph, 20 June 2001 [2] S. Phillipps, M.J. Drinkwater, M.D. Gregg, J.B. Jones Ultra-Compact Dwarf galaxies in the Fornax Cluster, astro-ph, 21 June 2001 [3] K. Bekki, W. Couch, M. Drinkwater Galaxy threshing and the formation of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies, astro-ph, 22 June 2001 [4] M. Fellhauer, P. Kroupa The Formation of Ultra-Compact Dwarf Galaxies, astro-ph, 29 Oct 2001 [5] M. Fellhauer, P. Kroupa Merging Massive Star Clusters as Building Blocks of Dwarf Galaxies?, astro-ph, 5 Dec 2001 [6] M. Fellhauer, P. Kroupa Cen - an Ultra Compact Dwarf Galaxy?, astro-ph, 20 Sep 2002 [7] S. Mieske, M. Hilker, L. Infante Fornax compact object survey FCOS: On the nature of Ultra Compact Dwarf galaxies, astro-ph, 29 Jan 2004 [8] M. Drinkwater, M.D. Gregg, M. Hilker, K. Bekki, W.J. Couch, H.C. Ferguson, J.B. Jones & S. Phillipps A class of compact dwarf galaxies from disruptive processes in galaxy clusters., astro-ph, 1 Dec 2004 [9] J.B. Jones et al. Discovery of Ultra-Compact Dwarf Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, astro-ph, 6 Sep 2005 [10] S. Mieske, L. Infante Ultra Compact Dwarf galaxies in Abell1689: a photometric study with ACS, astro-ph, 28 Jun 2004 [11] K. Bekki, W.J. Couch, M. Drinkwater and Y. Shioya Galaxy threshing and the origin of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies in the Fornax cluster, astro-ph, 14 Aug 2003

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