Search Publications
The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with HST.I.An Observational Survey
Faber, S. M.; Dressler, A.; Byun, Y. -I. +6 more
We have obtained V-band images of 45 nearby elliptical galaxies and bulges using the original Planetary Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope. The majority of the sample is at distances of 10-20 Mpc. This represents a substantial increase in the number of galaxies that have been studied at a resolution of a few parsecs. At this resolution, many gal…
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Young Star Clusters in NGC 4038/4039, "The Antennae" Galaxies
Whitmore, Bradley C.; Schweizer, Francois
New, high-resolution images of the disks of NGC 4038/4039 obtained with the Wide Field Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) are presented. NGC 4038/4039, nicknamed "The Antennae," is a prototypical example of a pair of colliding galaxies believed to be at an early stage of a merger. Down to the limiting magnitude of V~23 mag, the HST images …
Starbursts and Star Clusters in the Ultraviolet
Leitherer, C.; Garnett, D. R.; Heckman, T. M. +3 more
We present ultraviolet (UV) images of nine starburst galaxies obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope using the Faint Object Camera. The galaxies range in morphology from blue compact dwarfs to ultraluminous merging far-infrared galaxies. Our data combined with new and archival UV spectroscopy and far-infrared fluxes allow us to dissect the anato…
Dust in the Cores of Early-Type Galaxies
Franx, M.; van Dokkum, P. G.
The dust properties of all early-type galaxies imaged with the Planetary Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope in cycles I-III are examined. Dust is detected in 31 out of 64 galaxies, although the sample is biased against the detection of dust. From the distribution of observed axis ratios of the dust features it is inferred that 78% +/- 16% of ear…
Faintest Galaxy Morphologies From HST WFPC2 Imaging of the Hawaii Survey Fields
Cowie, Lennox L.; Hu, Esther M.; Songaila, Antoinette
We present very deep HST WFPC2 images in the F814W filter of two Hawaii Survey fields, SSA13 and SSA22. Using these data with previous ground- based imaging and spectroscopy, we compare the colors, star-forming properties, and morphologies of the faintest galaxies with a reference sample of bright nearby galaxies and analyze the changes in field g…
Spectral Classification of Galaxies: an Orthogonal Approach
Calzetti, D.; Kinney, A. L.; Connolly, A. J. +2 more
Classification of galaxy spectral energy distributions in terms of orthogonal basis functions provides an objective means of estimating the number of significant spectral components that comprise a particular galaxy type. We apply the Karhunen-Loeve transform to derive a spectral eigensystem from a sample of ten galaxy spectral energy distribution…
An Eccentric-Disk Model for the Nucleus of M31
Tremaine, Scott
The nucleus of M31 may be a thick eccentric disk, composed of stars traveling on nearly Keplerian orbits around a black hole or other dark compact object. This hypothesis reproduces most of the features seen in HST photometry of the center of M31; in particular the bright off-center source P1 is the apoapsis region of the disk. An eccentric disk c…
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Circumnuclear Star-Forming Rings in NGC 1097 and NGC 6951
Filippenko, Alexei V.; Ho, Luis C.; Barth, Aaron J. +1 more
We have obtained new and archival Hubble Space Telescope V-band images of kiloparsec-sized circumnuclear star-forming rings in the barred spiral galaxies NGC 1097 and NGC 6951, both of which contain active nuclei. The images resolve the rings into two-armed spirals composed of bright knots located on the outer edges of prominent dust lanes. The tw…
Measuring the Hubble Constant with the Hubble Space Telescope
Freedman, Wendy L.; Mould, Jeremy R.; Kennicutt, Robert C., Jr.
The spectacular success of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) repair mission now makes it possible to realize one of the astrophysical goals for which the HST was designed. Despite recent progress in ground-based measurements of the distance scale, the value of the Hubble constant remains uncertain at the +/- 20%-30% level. The incompatibility of hi…
The Dense Galactic Starburst NGC 3603. I. HST/FOS Spectroscopy of Individual Stars in the Core and the source of Ionization and Kinetic Energy
Walborn, Nolan R.; Drissen, Laurent; Moffat, Anthony F. J. +1 more
We present spectrograms of 14 individual luminous stars in RD 97950, the core (r≤4"=0.12 pc) of the dense galactic starburst NGC 3603, obtained with the Faint Object Spectrograph aboard the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. In a volume of less than a cubic light year, three luminous hydrogen-rich WNL+abs stars cohabit with six O3 stars [includin…