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 Stellar Populations in Nearby Lenticular GalaxiesWe have obtained two-dimensional spectral data for a sample of 58 nearbyS0 galaxies with the Multi-Pupil Fiber/Field Spectrograph of the 6 mtelescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the RussianAcademy of Sciences. The Lick indices Hβ, Mg b, and arecalculated separately for the nuclei and for the bulges taken as therings between R=4'' and 7", and the luminosity-weighted ages,metallicities, and Mg/Fe ratios of the stellar populations are estimatedby comparing the data to single stellar population (SSP) models. Fourtypes of galaxy environments are considered: clusters, centers ofgroups, other places in groups, and the field. The nuclei are found tobe on average slightly younger than the bulges in any type ofenvironment, and the bulges of S0 galaxies in sparse environments areyounger than those in dense environments. The effect can be partlyattributed to the well-known age correlation with the stellar velocitydispersion in early-type galaxies (in our sample the galaxies in sparseenvironments are on average less massive than those in denseenvironments), but for the most massive S0 galaxies, withσ*=170-220 km s-1, the age dependence on theenvironment is still significant at the confidence level of 1.5 σ.Based on observations collected with the 6 m telescope (BTA) at theSpecial Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) of the Russian Academy ofSciences (RAS). How large are the bars in barred galaxies?I present a study of the sizes (semimajor axes) of bars in discgalaxies, combining a detailed R-band study of 65 S0-Sb galaxies withthe B-band measurements of 70 Sb-Sd galaxies from Martin (1995). As hasbeen noted before with smaller samples, bars in early-type (S0-Sb)galaxies are clearly larger than bars in late-type (Sc-Sd) galaxies;this is true both for relative sizes (bar length as fraction ofisophotal radius R25 or exponential disc scalelength h) andabsolute sizes (kpc). S0-Sab bars extend to ~1-10 kpc (mean ~ 3.3 kpc),~0.2-0.8R25 (mean ~ 0.38R25) and ~0.5-2.5h (mean ~1.4h). Late-type bars extend to only ~0.5-3.5 kpc,~0.05-0.35R25 and 0.2-1.5h their mean sizes are ~1.5 kpc, ~0.14R25 and ~0.6h. Sb galaxies resemble earlier-type galaxiesin terms of bar size relative to h; their smallerR25-relative sizes may be a side effect of higher starformation, which increases R25 but not h. Sbc galaxies form atransition between the early- and late-type regimes. For S0-Sbcgalaxies, bar size correlates well with disc size (both R25and h); these correlations are stronger than the known correlation withMB. All correlations appear to be weaker or absent forlate-type galaxies; in particular, there seems to be no correlationbetween bar size and either h or MB for Sc-Sd galaxies.Because bar size scales with disc size and galaxy magnitude for mostHubble types, studies of bar evolution with redshift should selectsamples with similar distributions of disc size or magnitude(extrapolated to present-day values); otherwise, bar frequencies andsizes could be mis-estimated. Because early-type galaxies tend to havelarger bars, resolution-limited studies will preferentially find bars inearly-type galaxies (assuming no significant differential evolution inbar sizes). I show that the bars detected in Hubble Space Telescope(HST) near-infrared(IR) images at z~ 1 by Sheth et al. have absolutesizes consistent with those in bright, nearby S0-Sb galaxies. I alsocompare the sizes of real bars with those produced in simulations anddiscuss some possible implications for scenarios of secular evolutionalong the Hubble sequence. Simulations often produce bars as large as(or larger than) those seen in S0-Sb galaxies, but rarely any as smallas those in Sc-Sd galaxies. The XMM-Newton Needles in the Haystack Survey: the local X-ray luminosity function of normal' galaxiesIn this paper we estimate the local (z < 0.22) X-ray luminosityfunction of normal' galaxies derived from the XMM-Newton Needles in theHaystack Survey. This is an on-going project that aims to identifyX-ray-selected normal galaxies (i.e. non-AGN dominated) in the localUniverse. We are using a total of 70 XMM-Newton fields covering an areaof 11 deg2 which overlap with the Sloan Digital Sky SurveyData Release 2. Normal galaxies are selected on the basis of theirresolved optical light profile, their low X-ray-to-optical flux ratio[log(fx/fo) < - 2] and soft X-ray colours. Wefind a total of 28 candidate normal galaxies to the 0.5-8keV band fluxlimit of ~2 × 10-15ergcm-2s-1.Optical spectra are available for most sources in our sample (82 percent). These provide additional evidence that our sources are bona fidenormal galaxies with X-ray emission coming from diffuse hot gas emissionand/or X-ray binaries rather than a supermassive black hole. 16 of ourgalaxies have narrow emission lines or a late-type spectral energydistribution (SED) while the remaining 12 present only absorption linesor an early-type SED. Combining our XMM-Newton sample with 18 local (z< 0.22) galaxies from the Chandra Deep Field North and South surveys,we construct the local X-ray luminosity function of normal galaxies.This can be represented with a Schechter form with a break atL*~ 3+1.4-1.0×1041ergs-1 and a slope of α~ 1.78 +/- 0.12.Using this luminosity function and assuming pure luminosity evolution ofthe form ~(1 +z)3.3 we estimate a contribution to the X-raybackground from normal galaxies of ~10-20 per cent (0.5-8keV). Finally,we derive, for the first time, the luminosity functions for early- andlate-type systems separately. X-ray bright optically inactive galaxies in XMM-Newton/Sloan Digital Sky Survey fields: more diluted than absorbed?We explore the properties of X-ray bright optically inactive galaxies(XBONGs) detected in the 0.5-8 keV spectral band in 20 public XMM-Newtonfields overlapping with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Weconstrain our sample to optically extended systems withlogfX/fopt > -2 that have spectroscopicidentifications available from the SDSS (r < 19.2 mag). The resultingsample contains 12 objects with LX(0.5-8 keV) = 5 ×1041-2 × 1044 erg s-1 in theredshift range 0.06 < z < 0.45. The X-ray emission in four casesis extended, suggesting the presence of hot gas associated with acluster or group of galaxies. The X-ray spectral fits show that twoadditional sources are best fit with a thermal component emission (kT~ 1keV). Three sources are most likely associated with active galacticnuclei (AGNs): their X-ray spectrum is described by a steep photon indexΓ~ 1.9 typical of unobscured AGNs, while they are very luminous inX-rays [LX(0.5-8 keV) ~ 1043-1044 ergs-1]. Finally, three more sources could be associated witheither normal galaxies or unobscured low-luminosity AGNs (LX< 1042 erg s-1). We find no evidence forsignificant X-ray absorbing columns in any of our XBONGs. The abovesuggest that XBONGs, selected in the total 0.5-8 keV band, comprise amixed bag of objects primarily including normal elliptical galaxies andtype 1 AGNs whose optical nuclear spectrum is probably diluted by thestrong stellar continuum. Nevertheless, as our sample is notstatistically complete we cannot exclude the possibility that a fractionof optically fainter XBONGs may be associated with heavily obscuredAGNs. Antitruncation of Disks in Early-Type Barred GalaxiesThe disks of spiral galaxies are commonly thought to be truncated: theradial surface brightness profile steepens sharply beyond a certainradius (3-5 inner disk scale lengths). Here we present the radialbrightness profiles of a number of barred S0-Sb galaxies with theopposite behavior: their outer profiles are distinctly shallower inslope than the main disk profile. We term these antitruncations'' theyare found in at least 25% of a larger sample of barred S0-Sb galaxies.There are two distinct types of antitruncations. About one-third show afairly gradual transition and outer isophotes that are progressivelyrounder than the main disk isophotes, suggestive of a disk embeddedwithin a more spheroidal outer zone-either the outer extent of the bulgeor a separate stellar halo. But the majority of the profiles have rathersharp surface brightness transitions to the shallower, outer exponentialprofile and, crucially, outer isophotes that are not significantlyrounder than the main disk; in the Sab-Sb galaxies, the outer isophotesinclude visible spiral arms. This suggests that the outer light is stillpart of the disk. A subset of these profiles are in galaxies withasymmetric outer isophotes (lopsided or one-armed spirals), suggestingthat interactions may be responsible for at least some of the disklikeantitruncations. A Near-Solar Metallicity, Nitrogen-deficient Lyman Limit Absorber Associated with Two S0 GalaxiesThe UV spectrum of the bright quasar PHL 1811 at zem=0.192reveals a foreground gas system at z=0.080923 withlogN(HI)=17.98+/-0.05. We have determined the abundances of variousatomic species in this system from a spectrum covering the wavelengthrange 1160-1730 Å recorded at 7 km s-1 resolution bythe E140M grating of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) onthe Hubble Space Telescope (HST), supplemented by coverage at shorterwavelengths by the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Theabundances of C II, Si II, S II, and Fe II compared to that of O Iindicate that a considerable fraction of the gas is in locations wherethe hydrogen is ionized. An oxygen abundance [O/H]=-0.19+/-0.08 in the HI-bearing gas indicates that the chemical enrichment of the gas isunusually high for an extragalactic QSO absorption system. However, thissame material has an unusually low abundance of nitrogen,[N/O]<-0.59, indicating that there may not have been enough timeduring this enrichment for secondary nitrogen to arise from low- andintermediate-mass stars. From the convergence of high Lyman series lineswe can determine the velocity width of H I, and after correcting forturbulent broadening shown by the O I absorption feature, we derive atemperature T=7070+3860-4680 K. We determine alower bound for the electron density n(e)>10-3cm-3 by modeling the ionization by the intergalacticradiation field and an upper bound n(e)<0.07 cm-3 from theabsence of much C II in an excited fine-structure level. The thermalpressure in the range 4cm-3K Inner-truncated Disks in GalaxiesWe present an analysis of the disk brightness profiles of 218 spiral andlenticular galaxies. At least 28% of disk galaxies exhibit innertruncations in these profiles. There are no significant trends oftruncation incidence with Hubble type, but the incidence among barredsystems is 49%, more than 4 times that for nonbarred galaxies. However,not all barred systems have inner truncations, and not allinner-truncated systems are currently barred. Truncations represent areal dearth of disk stars in the inner regions and are not an artifactof our selection or fitting procedures nor the result of obscuration bydust. Disk surface brightness profiles in the outer regions are wellrepresented by simple exponentials for both truncated and nontruncateddisks. However, truncated and nontruncated systems have systematicallydifferent slopes and central surface brightness parameters for theirdisk brightness distributions. Truncation radii do not appear tocorrelate well with the sizes or brightnesses of the bulges. Thissuggests that the low angular momentum material apparently missing fromthe inner disk was not simply consumed in forming the bulge population.Disk parameters and the statistics of bar orientations in our sampleindicate that the missing stars of the inner disk have not simply beenredistributed azimuthally into bar structures. The sharpness of thebrightness truncations and their locations with respect to othergalactic structures suggest that resonances associated with diskkinematics, or tidal interactions with the mass of bulge stars, might beresponsible for this phenomenon. Double-barred galaxies. I. A catalog of barred galaxies with stellar secondary bars and inner disksI present a catalog of 67 barred galaxies which contain distinct,elliptical stellar structures inside their bars. Fifty of these aredouble-barred galaxies: a small-scale, inner or secondary bar isembedded within a large-scale, outer or primary bar. I providehomogenized measurements of the sizes, ellipticities, and orientationsof both inner and outer bars, along with global parameters for thegalaxies. The other 17 are classified as inner-disk galaxies, where alarge-scale bar harbors an inner elliptical structure which is alignedwith the galaxy's outer disk. Four of the double-barred galaxies alsopossess inner disks, located in between the inner and outer bars. Whilethe inner-disk classification is ad-hoc - and undoubtedly includes someinner bars with chance alignments (five such probable cases areidentified) - there is good evidence that inner disks form astatistically distinct population, and that at least some are indeeddisks rather than bars. In addition, I list 36 galaxies which may bedouble-barred, but for which current observations are ambiguous orincomplete, and another 23 galaxies which have been previously suggestedas potentially being double-barred, but which are probably not. Falsedouble-bar identifications are usually due to features such as nuclearrings and spirals being misclassified as bars; I provide someillustrated examples of how this can happen.A detailed statistical analysis of the general population of double-barand inner-disk galaxies, as represented by this catalog, will bepresented in a companion paper.Tables \ref{tab:measured} and \ref{tab:deproj} are only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org An Imaging Survey of Early-Type Barred GalaxiesThis paper presents the results of a high-resolution imaging survey,using both ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope images, of a completesample of nearby barred S0-Sa galaxies in the field, with a particularemphasis on identifying and measuring central structures within thebars: secondary bars, inner disks, nuclear rings and spirals, andoff-plane dust. A discussion of the frequency and statistical propertiesof the various types of inner structures has already been published.Here we present the data for the individual galaxies and measurements oftheir bars and inner structures. We set out the methods we use to findand measure these structures, and how we discriminate between them. Inparticular, we discuss some of the deficiencies of ellipse fitting ofthe isophotes, which by itself cannot always distinguish between bars,rings, spirals, and dust, and which can produce erroneous measurementsof bar sizes and orientations. Star Formation Histories of Early-Type Galaxies. I. Higher Order Balmer Lines as Age IndicatorsWe have obtained blue integrated spectra of 175 nearby early-typegalaxies, covering a wide range in galaxy velocity dispersion andemphasizing those with σ<100 km s-1. Galaxies havebeen observed both in the Virgo Cluster and in lower densityenvironments. The main goals are the evaluation of higher order Balmerlines as age indicators and differences in stellar populations as afunction of mass, environment, and morphology. In this first paper, ouremphasis is on presenting the methods used to characterize the behaviorof the Balmer lines through evolutionary population synthesis models.Lower σ galaxies exhibit a substantially greater intrinsicscatter, in a variety of line-strength indicators, than do higherσ galaxies, with the large intrinsic scatter setting in below aσ of 100 km s-1. Moreover, a greater contrast inscatter is present in the Balmer lines than in the lines of metalfeatures. Evolutionary synthesis modeling of the observed spectralindexes indicates that the strong Balmer lines found primarily among thelow-σ galaxies are caused by young age, rather than by lowmetallicity. Thus we find a trend between the population age and thecentral velocity dispersion, such that low-σ galaxies have youngerluminosity-weighted mean ages. We have repeated this analysis usingseveral different Balmer lines and find consistent results from onespectral indicator to another. Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-Type Galaxies: Circular-Aperture PhotometryWe present R-band CCD photometry for 1332 early-type galaxies, observedas part of the ENEAR survey of peculiar motions using early-typegalaxies in the nearby universe. Circular apertures are used to tracethe surface brightness profiles, which are then fitted by atwo-component bulge-disk model. From the fits, we obtain the structuralparameters required to estimate galaxy distances using theDn-σ and fundamental plane relations. We find thatabout 12% of the galaxies are well represented by a pure r1/4law, while 87% are best fitted by a two-component model. There are 356repeated observations of 257 galaxies obtained during different runsthat are used to derive statistical corrections and bring the data to acommon system. We also use these repeated observations to estimate ourinternal errors. The accuracy of our measurements are tested by thecomparison of 354 galaxies in common with other authors. Typical errorsin our measurements are 0.011 dex for logDn, 0.064 dex forlogre, 0.086 mag arcsec-2 for<μe>, and 0.09 for mRC,comparable to those estimated by other authors. The photometric datareported here represent one of the largest high-quality and uniformall-sky samples currently available for early-type galaxies in thenearby universe, especially suitable for peculiar motion studies.Based on observations at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO),National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., undercooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF);European Southern Observatory (ESO); Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory(FLWO); and the MDM Observatory on Kitt Peak. A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxiesWe have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of normality''. Thedefinition of a normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5 Bar Galaxies and Their EnvironmentsThe prints of the Palomar Sky Survey, luminosity classifications, andradial velocities were used to assign all northern Shapley-Ames galaxiesto either (1) field, (2) group, or (3) cluster environments. Thisinformation for 930 galaxies shows no evidence for a dependence of barfrequency on galaxy environment. This suggests that the formation of abar in a disk galaxy is mainly determined by the properties of theparent galaxy, rather than by the characteristics of its environment. Double Bars, Inner Disks, and Nuclear Rings in Early-Type Disk GalaxiesWe present results from a survey of an unbiased sample of 38 early-type(S0-Sa), low-inclination, optically barred galaxies in the field, usingimages both from the ground and from space. Our goal was to find andcharacterize central stellar and gaseous structures: secondary bars,inner disks, and nuclear rings. We find that bars inside bars aresurprisingly common: at least one-quarter of the sample galaxies(possibly as many as 40%) are double barred, with no preference forHubble type or the strength of the primary bar. A typical secondary baris ~12% of the size of its primary bar and extends to 240-750 pc inradius. Secondary bars are not systematically either parallel orperpendicular to the primary; we see cases where they lead the primarybar in rotation and others where they trail, which supports thehypothesis that the two bars of a double-bar system rotateindependently. We see no significant effect of secondary bars on nuclearactivity: our double-barred galaxies are no more likely to harbor aSeyfert or LINER nucleus than our single-barred galaxies. We findkiloparsec-scale inner disks in at least 20% of our sample; they occuralmost exclusively in S0 galaxies. These disks are on average 20% thesize of their host bar and show a wider range of relative sizes than dosecondary bars. Nuclear rings are present in about a third of oursample. Most of these rings are dusty, sites of current or recent starformation, or both; such rings are preferentially found in Sa galaxies.Three S0 galaxies (8% of the sample, but 15% of the S0's) appear to havepurely stellar nuclear rings, with no evidence for dust or recent starformation. The fact that these central stellar structures are so commonindicates that the inner regions of early-type barred galaxies typicallycontain dynamically cool and disklike structures. This is especiallytrue for S0 galaxies, where secondary bars, inner disks, and/or stellarnuclear rings are present at least two-thirds of the time. If weinterpret nuclear rings, secondary bars, and (possibly) inner disks andnuclear spirals as signs of inner Lindblad resonances (ILRs), thenbetween one and two-thirds of barred S0-Sa galaxies show evidence forILRs. A catalogue and analysis of X-ray luminosities of early-type galaxiesWe present a catalogue of X-ray luminosities for 401 early-typegalaxies, of which 136 are based on newly analysed ROSAT PSPC pointedobservations. The remaining luminosities are taken from the literatureand converted to a common energy band, spectral model and distancescale. Using this sample we fit the LX:LB relationfor early-type galaxies and find a best-fit slope for the catalogue of~2.2. We demonstrate the influence of group-dominant galaxies on the fitand present evidence that the relation is not well modelled by a singlepower-law fit. We also derive estimates of the contribution to galaxyX-ray luminosities from discrete-sources and conclude that they provideLdscr/LB~=29.5ergs-1LBsolar-1. Wecompare this result with luminosities from our catalogue. Lastly, weexamine the influence of environment on galaxy X-ray luminosity and onthe form of the LX:LB relation. We conclude thatalthough environment undoubtedly affects the X-ray properties ofindividual galaxies, particularly those in the centres of groups andclusters, it does not change the nature of whole populations. The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and DistancesWe report data for I-band surface brightness fluctuation (SBF)magnitudes, (V-I) colors, and distance moduli for 300 galaxies. Thesurvey contains E, S0, and early-type spiral galaxies in the proportionsof 49:42:9 and is essentially complete for E galaxies to Hubblevelocities of 2000 km s-1, with a substantial sampling of Egalaxies out to 4000 km s-1. The median error in distancemodulus is 0.22 mag. We also present two new results from the survey.(1) We compare the mean peculiar flow velocity (bulk flow) implied byour distances with predictions of typical cold dark matter transferfunctions as a function of scale, and we find very good agreement withcold, dark matter cosmologies if the transfer function scale parameterΓ and the power spectrum normalization σ8 arerelated by σ8Γ-0.5~2+/-0.5. Deriveddirectly from velocities, this result is independent of the distributionof galaxies or models for biasing. This modest bulk flow contradictsreports of large-scale, large-amplitude flows in the ~200 Mpc diametervolume surrounding our survey volume. (2) We present adistance-independent measure of absolute galaxy luminosity, N and showhow it correlates with galaxy properties such as color and velocitydispersion, demonstrating its utility for measuring galaxy distancesthrough large and unknown extinction. Observations in part from theMichigan-Dartmouth-MIT (MDM) Observatory. Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of GroupsIn this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales. X-ray luminosities for a magnitude-limited sample of early-type galaxies from the ROSAT All-Sky SurveyFor a magnitude-limited optical sample (B_T <= 13.5 mag) ofearly-type galaxies, we have derived X-ray luminosities from the ROSATAll-Sky Survey. The results are 101 detections and 192 useful upperlimits in the range from 10^36 to 10^44 erg s^-1. For most of thegalaxies no X-ray data have been available until now. On the basis ofthis sample with its full sky coverage, we find no galaxy with anunusually low flux from discrete emitters. Below log (L_B) ~ 9.2L_⊗ the X-ray emission is compatible with being entirely due todiscrete sources. Above log (L_B) ~ 11.2 L_osolar no galaxy with onlydiscrete emission is found. We further confirm earlier findings that L_xis strongly correlated with L_B. Over the entire data range the slope isfound to be 2.23 (+/- 0.12). We also find a luminosity dependence ofthis correlation. Below log L_x = 40.5 erg s^-1 it is consistent with aslope of 1, as expected from discrete emission. Above this value theslope is close to 2, as expected from gaseous emission. Comparing thedistribution of X-ray luminosities with the models of Ciotti et al.leads to the conclusion that the vast majority of early-type galaxiesare in the wind or outflow phase. Some of the galaxies may have alreadyexperienced the transition to the inflow phase. They show X-rayluminosities in excess of the value predicted by cooling flow modelswith the largest plausible standard supernova rates. A possibleexplanation for these super X-ray-luminous galaxies is suggested by thesmooth transition in the L_x--L_B plane from galaxies to clusters ofgalaxies. Gas connected to the group environment might cause the X-rayoverluminosity. Arcsecond Positions of UGC GalaxiesWe present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only. Groups of galaxies. III. Some empirical characteristics.Not Available Bulge-Disk Decomposition of 659 Spiral and Lenticular Galaxy Brightness ProfilesWe present one of the largest homogeneous sets of spiral and lenticulargalaxy brightness profile decompositions completed to date. The 659galaxies in our sample have been fitted with a de Vaucouleurs law forthe bulge component and an inner-truncated exponential for the diskcomponent. Of the 659 galaxies in the sample, 620 were successfullyfitted with the chosen fitting functions. The fits are generally welldefined, with more than 90% having rms deviations from the observedprofile of less than 0.35 mag. We find no correlations of fittingquality, as measured by these rms residuals, with either morphologicaltype or inclination. Similarly, the estimated errors of the fittedcoefficients show no significant trends with type or inclination. Thesedecompositions form a useful basis for the study of the lightdistributions of spiral and lenticular galaxies. The object base issufficiently large that well-defined samples of galaxies can be selectedfrom it. Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxiesWe present a catalogue of aperture photometry of galaxies, in UBVRI,assembled from three different origins: (i) an update of the catalogueof Buta et al. (1995) (ii) published photometric profiles and (iii)aperture photometry performed on CCD images. We explored different setsof growth curves to fit these data: (i) The Sersic law, (ii) The net ofgrowth curves used for the preparation of the RC3 and (iii) A linearinterpolation between the de Vaucouleurs (r(1/4) ) and exponential laws.Finally we adopted the latter solution. Fitting these growth curves, wederive (1) the total magnitude, (2) the effective radius, (3) the colourindices and (4) gradients and (5) the photometric type of 5169 galaxies.The photometric type is defined to statistically match the revisedmorphologic type and parametrizes the shape of the growth curve. It iscoded from -9, for very concentrated galaxies, to +10, for diffusegalaxies. Based in part on observations collected at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory. Molecular Gas, Morphology, and Seyfert Galaxy ActivityWe probe the cause of the elevated star formation in host galaxies ofSeyfert 2 nuclei compared with Seyfert 1 hosts and with field galaxies.12CO (1--0) observations of a large sample of Seyfert galaxies indicateno significant difference in the total amount of molecular gas as afunction of the Seyfert nuclear type, nor are Seyfert galaxiessignificantly different in this regard from a sample of field galaxiesonce selection effects are accounted for. Therefore, the total amount ofmolecular gas is not responsible for the enhanced star-forming activityin Seyfert 2 hosts. To probe how this gas is being converted moreefficiently into stars in Seyfert 2 hosts than in the other galaxies, weinvestigate the occurrence of bars, interactions, and distortedmorphologies among Seyfert galaxies. We find a significantly higher rateof asymmetric morphologies for Seyfert 2 galaxies with respect toSeyfert 1 galaxies and field galaxies. Relative to field galaxies, theeffect is at a greater than 99.9% confidence level. The presence ofasymmetric morphologies in individual Seyfert galaxies is correlatedwith their tendency to exhibit enhanced star-forming activity. Theseresults suggest that asymmetric morphologies are an important cause forthe link between Seyfert type and star-forming activity: bars anddistortions in Seyfert 2 hosts are likely both to enhance star-formingactivity and to funnel gas into the nuclear region, thus obscuring andpossibly contributing to the feeding of the active nucleus. The fundamental plane of early-type galaxies: stellar populations and mass-to-light ratio.We analyse the residuals to the fundamental plane (FP) of ellipticalgalaxies as a function of stellar-population indicators; these are basedon the line-strength parameter Mg_2_ and on UBVRI broad-band colors, andare partly derived from new observations. The effect of the stellarpopulations accounts for approximately half the observed variation ofthe mass-to-light ratio responsible for the FP tilt. The residual tiltcan be explained by the contribution of two additional effects: thedependence of the rotational support, and possibly that of the spatialstructure, on the luminosity. We conclude to a constancy of thedynamical-to-stellar mass ratio. This probably extends to globularclusters as well, but the dominant factor would be here the luminositydependence of the structure rather than that of the stellar population.This result also implies a constancy of the fraction of dark matter overall the scalelength covered by stellar systems. Our compilation ofinternal stellar kinematics of galaxies is appended. A Catalog of Stellar Velocity Dispersions. II. 1994 UpdateA catalog of central velocity dispersion measurements is presented,current through 1993 September. The catalog includes 2474 measurementsof 1563 galaxies. A standard set of 86 galaxies is defined, consistingof galaxies with at least three reliable, concordant measurements. It issuggested that future studies observe some of these standard galaxies sothat different studies can be normalized to a consistent system. Allmeasurements are reduced to a normalized system using these standards. Integrated photoelectric magnitudes and color indices of bright galaxies in the Johnson UBV systemThe photoelectric total magnitudes and color indices published in theThird Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC3) are based on ananalysis of approximately equals 26,000 B, 25,000 B-V, and 17,000 U-Bmultiaperture measurements available up to mid 1987 from nearly 350sources. This paper provides the full details of the analysis andestimates of internal and external errors in the parameters. Thederivation of the parameters is based on techniques described by theVaucouleurs & Corwin (1977) whereby photoelectric multiaperture dataare fitted by mean Hubble-type-dependent curves which describe theintegral of the B-band flux and the typical B-V and U-B integrated colorgradients. A sophisticated analysis of the residuals of thesemeasurements from the curves was made to allow for the random andsystematic errors that effect such data. The result is a homogeneous setof total magnitudes BTA total colors(B-V)T and (U-B)T, and effective colors(B-V)e and (U-B)e for more than 3000 brightgalaxies in RC3. Age of the stellar population in the nuclei of disk galaxiesIt is shown on the basis of observational results with the 6-m telescopethat strong Balmer absorption lines are present in the spectra of thenuclei of 50 percent of the early-type disk galaxies (from SO to Sb).The method of evolutionary modeling of integrated spectra is used toshow that a significant number of stars younger than 5 billion yr arepresent in these nuclei. Nucleus metallicity is determined for 21 diskgalaxies with old stellar populations in the nuclei. A revised catalog of CfA1 galaxy groups in the Virgo/Great Attractor flow fieldA new identification of groups and clusters in the CfA1 Catalog ofHuchra et al. is presented, using a percolation algorithm to identifydensity enhancements. It is shown that in the resulting catalog,contamination by interlopers is significantly reduced. The Schechterluminosity function is redetermined, including the Malmquist bias. Dynamically hot galaxies. II - Global stellar populationsThe global relationship between the stellar populations and thestructural properties of dynamically hot galaxies (DHGs) is investigatedusing the same sample as was analyzed by Bender et al. (1992), whichincludes giant ellipticals, low-luminosity ellipticals, compactellipticals, diffuse dwarf ellipticals, dwarf spheroidals, and bulges.It was found that all DHGs follow a single relationship between globalstellar population (represented by Mg2 index or B-V color) and centralvelocity dispersion sigma(0), and that the Mg2-sigma(0) relation issignificantly tighter than the relation between the Mg2 index andabsolute luminosity. The relation between central Mg2 index and bulk B-Vcolor was also found to be tight. The dependence of the cool matter content on galaxy morphology in galaxies of types E/S0, S0, and SAUsing the material assembled in earlier papers, we examine the manner inwhich the interstellar matter content varies along the Hubble sequencefrom S0 galaxies to Sa galaxies selected from the RSA2 compilation. Forthis we make use of a new and more detailed classification which isdescribed here as applied to these early disk/spiral galaxies. Theprominence of the disk in S0's and the visibility of features (H IIregions) in the Sa's serve as the basis for the subtypes. Three S0categories: subtle, intermediate, and pronounced, and four Sadescriptors: very early, early, intermediate, and late are assigned tothe galaxies. It is found that the total amount of hydrogen (H I + H2)is a function of subtype, being low in the S0's and rising smoothly fromthe early Sa's to the later Sa's. The average surface density ofhydrogen exceeds 3 solar masses/pc-squared only in the latest subtypesof the Sa's. We conclude that the prominence of the disk of a galaxyclosely follows the amount of cool gas which the disk contains.
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