Central Activity in the Barred Galaxy NGC 3367 (original) (raw)
1998, The Astronomical Journal
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The Bulgeless Seyfert/LINER Galaxy NGC 3367: Disk, Bar, Lopsidedness, and Environment
Astronomical Journal, 2011
NGC 3367 is a nearby isolated active galaxy that shows a radio jet, a strong bar, and evidence of lopsidedness. We present a quantitative analysis of the stellar and gaseous structure of the galaxy disk and search for evidence of recent interaction. Our study is based on new UBVRI Hα and JHK images and on archive Hα Fabry-Perot and H I Very Large Array data. From a coupled one-dimensional/two-dimensional GALFIT bulge/bar/disk decomposition a (B/D ~ 0.07-0.1) exponential pseudobulge is inferred in all the observed bands. A near-infrared (NIR) estimate of the bar strength Q max T (R) = 0.44 places NGC 3367 bar among the strongest ones. The asymmetry properties were studied using (1) the optical and NIR concentration-asymmetry-clumpiness indices, (2) the stellar (NIR) and gaseous (Hα, H I) A 1 Fourier mode amplitudes, and (3) the H I-integrated profile and H I mean intensity distribution. While the average stellar component shows asymmetry values close to the average found in the local universe for isolated galaxies, the young stellar component and gas values are largely decoupled showing significantly larger A 1 mode amplitudes suggesting that the gas has been recently perturbed and placing NGC 3367 in a global starburst phase. NGC 3367 is devoid of H I gas in the central regions where a significant amount of molecular CO gas exists instead. Our search for (1) faint stellar structures in the outer regions (up to μ R ~ 26 mag arcsec-2), (2) (Hα) star-forming satellite galaxies, and (3) regions with different colors (stellar populations) along the disk all failed. Such an absence is interpreted by using results from recent numerical simulations to constrain either a possible tidal event with an LMC like galaxy to some dynamical times in the past or a very low mass but perhaps gas rich recent encounter. We conclude that a cold flow accretion mode (gas and small/dark galaxies) may be responsible for the nuclear activity and peculiar (young stars and gas) morphology regardless of the highly isolated environment. Black hole growth in bulgeless galaxies may be triggered by smooth mass accretion. Based on data obtained at the 0.84 m, 1.5 m, and 2.1 m telescopes of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, San Pedro Mártir operated by the Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Magnetic fields in barred galaxies. III. The southern peculiar galaxy NGC 2442
Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2004
Observations of the southern peculiar galaxy NGC 2442 with the Australia Telescope Compact Array in total and linearly polarized radio continuum at 6cm are presented and compared with previously obtained H$\alpha$ data. The distribution of polarized emission, a signature of regular magnetic fields, reveals some physical phenomena which are unusual among spiral galaxies. We find evidence for tidal interaction and/or ram pressure from the intergalactic medium compressing the magnetic field at the northern and western edges of the galaxy. The radial component of the regular magnetic field in the northern arm is directed away from the centre of the galaxy, a finding which is in contrast to the majority of galaxies studied to date. The oval distortion caused by the interaction generates a sudden jump of the magnetic field pattern upstream of the inner northern spiral arm, similar to galaxies with long bars. An unusual ``island'' of strong regular magnetic field east of the galaxy is probably the brightest part of a magnetic arm frequently seen in spiral galaxies, which appear to be phase-shifted images of the preceding optical arm. The strong magnetic field of the ``island'' indicates a past phase of active star formation when the preceding optical arm was exposed to ram pressure.
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