Since the 30's and Edwin Hubble's famous classification, galaxies are usually separated in twogroups : the late-type galaxies (LTGs) and the early-type galaxies (ETGs). The LTGs family ismainly made of spiral galaxies (S) while the ETGs family is composed of elliptical (E) and lenticular(S0) galaxies. A morphological study of all these galaxies revealed that around 60% of LTGs and45% of S0 present a bar. It has also been shown that, in the local Universe, galaxies fall into twobig groups : the blue cloud mostly populated by LTGs and the red sequence mainly made of ETGs.Several mechanisms are responsible for this distribution and the secular evolution is obviously animportant one to examine, sepcially in the context of bars, as an important number of studiesshowed the importance of bars in the dynamics and evolution of a galaxy.The goal of my thesis is to study the importance of the formation and ensued bar-drivenevolution influence on ETGs evolution. In that context, I have performed N-body simulations ofbarred (and unbarred) galaxies in order to investigate the following issues.First of all, I focused on the influence of a bar in a galaxy when modelling it with a dynamicalmodel assuming an axisymmetric mass distribution. As these kinds of models allow to determine themass-to-light ratio M/L, thus the dynamical mass of an observed galaxy, but also its inclinationand its anisotropy, it is important to evalute the consequence of the presence of a bar on theseparameters. I have shown that, depending on the galaxy inclination and the bar position angle,M/L is most of the time biased and overestimated, and this can be up to 25%. The size andstrength of the bar also seem to be important factors but a deeper study has to be done to quantifythis preliminary result.In a second step, I have studied the role of bars on the mass and metallicity redistributionsin a lenticular galaxy. I confirmed that the presence of a bar, due to its influence on its hostsystem dynamics, flattens pre-existing metallicity gradients. Moreover, I showed that the degree offlattening and the position of affected regions are directly correlated with the bar structure and thelocation of the dynamical resonances. Nonetheless, this dynamical effect cannot explain the varietyof observed ages and metallicity gradients. The consequences of a barred gravitational potentialon the gas dynamics and the stellar formation should therefore be investigated. This is the topicof the last set of numerical simulations produced which will allow to better understand the globalinfluence a bar has on the secular evolution of ETGs.

Remarkably, the central regions of galaxies are very important in shaping and influencing galaxies as a whole. As such, galaxy cores can be used for classification, to determine which processes may be important in galaxy formation and evolution. Past studies, for example, have found a dichotomy in the inner slopes of early-type galaxy surface brightness profiles. Using deprojections of the galaxies from the ACS Virgo and Fornax Cluster Surveys (ACSVCS/FCS), we show that, in fact, this dichotomy does not exist. Instead, we demonstrate that the brightest early-type galaxies tend to have central light deficits, a trend which gradually transitions to central light excesses – also known as compact stellar nuclei – as we go to fainter galaxies. This effect is quantified, and can be used to determine what evolutionary factors are important as we move along the galaxy luminosity function. The number of stellar nuclei that we observe is, in fact, an unexpected result emerging from the ACSVCS/FCS. Being three times more common than previously thought, they are present in the vast majority of intermediate and low-luminosity galaxies. Conversely, it has been known for over a decade that there is likely a supermassive black hole weighing millions to billions of solar masses at the center of virtually every galaxy of sufficient size. These black holes are known to follow scaling relations with their host galaxies. Using the ACSVCS, along with new kinematical data from long-slit spectroscopy, we measure the dynamical masses of 83 galaxies, and show that supermassive black holes and nuclei appear to fall along the same scaling relation with host mass. Both represent approximately 0.2% of their host’s mass, implying an important link between the two types of central massive objects. Finally, we extract elliptical isophotes and fit parameterized models to the surface brightness profiles of new Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the ACSVCS galaxies, observed in infrared and ultraviolet bandpasses. Taken together, the two surveys represent an unprecedented collection of isophotal and structural parameters of early-type galaxies, and will allow us to learn a great deal about the stellar populations and formation histories of galaxy cores. / Graduate

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / There have been a number of attempts to measure the expansion rate of the Universe using age-dating of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs).Assuming stars in LRGs form at the same time, age-dating of two populations of LRGs at different redshifts can provide an estimate of the time difference associated with the corresponding redshift interval (dt/dz). This gives a direct estimate of the Hubble parameter at the average redshift of the two populations. In this thesis, we explore the validity of the assumptions in this method using LRGs identified in the Millenium Simulation.We study the properties of LRGs simulated using two semi-analytical models for galaxy evolution and discuss LRG selection criteria. We use stellar population modelling and spectral synthesis to estimate the errors on ages that can be expected and discuss optimization of an age-dating experiment.We find that H(z) using simulated galaxies from MS can be recovered with high accuracy. Using Single Stellar Populations (SSPs) to age -date LRGs is not sufficient for this experiment but if the star formation histories of galaxies are used, accurate ages are obtainable. We discuss an observing program to carry out this experiment using SALT (Southern African Large Telescope).

No description available.

We present an overview of four deep phase-constrained Chandra HETGS X-ray observations of δ Ori A. Delta Ori A is actually a triple system that includes the nearest massive eclipsing spectroscopic binary, δ Ori Aa, the only such object that can be observed with little phase-smearing with the Chandra gratings. Since the fainter star, δ Ori Aa2, has a much lower X-ray luminosity than the brighter primary (δ Ori Aa1), δ Ori Aa provides a unique system with which to test the spatial distribution of the X-ray emitting gas around δ Ori Aa1 via occultation by the photosphere of, and wind cavity around, the X-ray dark secondary. Here we discuss the X-ray spectrum and X-ray line profiles for the combined observation, having an exposure time of nearly 500 ks and covering nearly the entire binary orbit. The companion papers discuss the X-ray variability seen in the Chandra spectra, present new space-based photometry and ground-based radial velocities obtained simultaneously with the X-ray data to better constrain the system parameters, and model the effects of X-rays on the optical and UV spectra. We find that the X-ray emission is dominated by embedded wind shock emission from star Aa1, with little contribution from the tertiary star Ab or the shocked gas produced by the collision of the wind of Aa1 against the surface of Aa2. We find a similar temperature distribution to previous X-ray spectrum analyses. We also show that the line half-widths are about 0.3−0.5 times the terminal velocity of the wind of star Aa1. We find a strong anti-correlation between line widths and the line excitation energy, which suggests that longer-wavelength, lower-temperature lines form farther out in the wind. Our analysis also indicates that the ratio of the intensities of the strong and weak lines of Fe XVII and Ne X are inconsistent with model predictions, which may be an effect of resonance scattering.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / We present a multi-wavelength study of the stellar content of 11 optical/infrared Southern Galactic Hii regions with 10 h < α(J2000) < −17 h and −65° < δ(J2000) < −35°. Nine optical objects with no published or uncertain distances were examined in order to identify their ionising sources and to determine their distances, whereas young stellar objects (YSOs) and main sequence ionising stars were photometrically classified in the two infrared clusters. We carried out optical spectroscopy and UBV photometry of the stellar content of these Hii regions and obtained the distance of individual stars by spectroscopic parallax. To avoid using a fixed value for the total-to-selective extinction ratio RV , the reddening AV was determined directly by the colour-difference method. We classified as types O or B 24 out of the 31 stars for which optical spectra were obtained. In particular, we identified two new O stars in RCW98 and RCW99. The values for reddening obtained correspond to a mean hRV i = 3.44, which is about 10% higher of the mean value found for field stars over all directions of the Galaxy. For the Hii regions NGC3503, NGC6334, RCW55, RCW87, RCW98 e RCW99, we obtained more precise distances calculated as the median of the spectroscopic parallaxes obtained for two to six different stars in each nebulae, with an internal dispersion of less than 5%. Among the objects more obscured in the Norma region, we analysed the stellar content of the East part of the large complex of Hii regions GAL331.5-00.1, which contains eight bright extended radio sources. This study comprises the infrared clusters [DBS2003] 156 and [DBS2003] 157, respectively associated to Hii regions GAL331.11-00.51 and GAL331.31-00.34. In order to isolate the brightest 2MASS sources of their unresolved companions, we carried out JHK photometry with resolution better than 2MASS data. 47 Near-infrared (NIR) sources with Ks-band excess were identified following usual methods. Other 70 YSOs were also identified by using Mid-IR on-line data of the GLIMPSE survey. The search for radial-velocity measurements in the literature and the similarity between the stellar population explored have indicated the two regions as physically associated. With the determination of the spectroscopic parallaxes of four O-type and two B-type stars spread over the both clusters, this hypothesis was verified. The parallaxes of these 6 stars returned very compatible distances (hdhelioci = 3.30 ± 0.29 kpc). The Near- and Mid-IR counterparts of the IRAS source 16085-5138 was found close to the field of [DBS2003] 157. This source has showed typical colours of a Ultra-compact ii region (UCHii) and spectral index α = 3.6 between 2 and 25 μm, which is typical of YSOs immersed in protostellar envelopes. A lower limit to the bolometric luminosity of the protostar embedded was computed as L = 7.7×103L⊙ (M = 10M⊙), which corresponds to a BO-B1 zero-age star. The cluster [DBS2003] 157 was found to be spread over all ∼4′ × 4′ region demarcated by a intense shell-like dust emission, where a secondary massive star formation is going on, likely as a result of the interaction between this dust and stellar winds. / Apresentamos aqui um estudo multibanda do conteúdo estelar de onze regiões Hii do Hemisfério sul com 10 h < α(J2000) < −17 h e −65◦ < δ(J2000) < −35◦. Em 9 objetos ópticos, com valores de distância discrepantes ou sem nenhuma determinação anterior publicada, visamos identificar as fontes ionizantes e determinar suas distâncias, enquanto que, no estudo de dois outros objetos no infravermelho, buscamos não apenas identificar as fontes ionizantes, mas também objetos estelares jovens (YSOs) em seus campos. Nos primeiros, realizamos espectroscopia no óptico e fotometria UBV de seus conteúdos estelares e determinamos as distâncias das estrelas massivas por meio da paralaxe espectroscópica. A fim de evitar o uso de um valor fixo para a razão entre a extinção total e a seletiva à banda V , RV , a extinção AV na direção de cada estrela foi determinada diretamente através no método das diferenças de cor. De um total de 31 estrelas espectroscopicamente estudas, 24 foram classificadas como tipos O ou B, sendo duas novas estrelas tipo O encontradas em RCW98 e RCW99. As estimativas de AV implicaram um valor médio de hRV i = 3.44. Este resultado supera em 10% o valor médio encontrado para estrelas de campo sobre todas as direções da Galáxia. Para as regiões Hii NGC3503, NGC6334, RCW55, RCW87, RCW98 e RCW99, distâncias mais precisas foram estimadas como o valor mediano da paralaxe espectroscópica de 2 a 6 diferentes estrelas ionizantes, resultando em uma dispersão interna menor que 5%. Dentre os objetos mais obscurecidos pela extinção interestelar da região de Norma, analisamos o conte´udo estelar da região leste do grande complexo de regiões Hii brilhantes em radiofrequências GAL331.5-00.1. A área estudada engloba os aglomerados infravermelhos [DBS2003] 156 e [DBS2003] 157, respectivamente associados às regiões Hii GAL331.11-00.51 e GAL331.31-00.34. Observações fotométricas nas bandas J, H e Ks, com mais alta resolução que a fotometria 2MASS, foram realizadas nas direções desses objetos, o que possibilitou isolar as fontes infravermelhas mais brilhantes de estrelas companheiras não resolvidas e selecionar potenciais estrelas ionizantes para subsequente espectroscopia. 47 fontes com excesso de emissão intrínseca na banda Ks, típico em YSOs, foram identificadas seguindo os métodos usuais de análise da fotometria no IR próximo (NIR). Outros 70 YSOs foram identificados no IR médio (Mid-IR) usando dados do survey GLIMPSE. A pesquisa por medidas de velocidade radial na direção desses dois objetos e a semelhança das populações estelares indicou que as duas sub-regiões estudas deveriam estar fisicamente associadas. Esta hipótese foi reafirmada com a determinação da paralaxe espectroscópica de 4 estrelas tipo O e outras 2 tipo B nos dois aglomerados, que retornaram valores de distâncias heliocêntricas bastante compatíveis (hdhelioci = 3.30 ± 0.29 kpc). A contrapartida nos NIR e Mid-IR da fonte IRAS 16085-5138 foi encontrada junto ao aglomerado [DBS2003] 157. Esta fonte apresentou cores típicas de uma região Hii Ultracompacta (UCHii) e índice espectral entre 2 e 25 μm de α = 3.6, típico de YSO imerso em um envelope protoestelar. Um limite inferior para a luminosidade bolométrica da protoestrela embebida foi estimado em L = 7.7×103L⊙ (M = 10M⊙), o que corresponde a uma estrela de idade zero na faixa de BO-B1. O aglomerado [DBS2003] 157 mostrou-se estar espalhado sobre toda uma região de ∼4′ ×4′, demarcada por intensa emissão de poeira quente e espacialmente distribuída como uma nuvem em forma de concha.

Depuis la célèbre classification d’Edwin Hubble dans les années 30, il est coutume de définir unegalaxie comme appartenant soit au groupe des galaxies dites de type tardif (late-type galaxiesabr´eg´e LTGs) soit à celui des galaxies dites de type précoce (early-type galaxies ou ETGs). Lafamille des LTGs est principalement composée de galaxies spirales (S) quand la famille des ETGsregroupe les galaxies lenticulaires (S0) et elliptiques (E). L’étude morphologique de ces galaxies arévélé qu’environ 60% des LTGs et 45% des S0 présentent une barre. Par ailleurs, il a été montréque dans l’Univers local les galaxies pouvaient être séparées en deux grands ensembles : le nuagebleu composé majoritairement de LTGs et la séquence rouge peuplée principalement par les ETGs.Plusieurs mécanismes sont à l’origine de cette distribution et l’évolution séculaire en est évidemmentun point majeur. Un nombre important de recherches ont montré l’importance des barres sur ladynamique et l’évolution d’une galaxie. Le but de ma th`ese est d’´etudier `a quel point la formationd’une barre et l’évolution qui s’ensuit influe sur l’évolution des ETGs. Pour ce faire j’ai réalisédes simulations à N-corps de galaxies barrées (et non barr´ees) qui m’a permis d´étudier les pointssuivants.Je me suis tout d’abord penché sur l’impact de la présence d’une barre dans une galaxie sur unemodélisation de cette dernière par un modèle supposant une ditribution de masse axisymmétrique.Ce genre de modélisation permettant de déterminer le rapport masse/luminosité M/L et donc lamasse d’une galaxie observée mais ´egalement son inclinaison et son anisotropie, il est importantd’estimer l’impact de la présence d’une barre sur ces paramètres. J’ai donc montré qu’en fonctionde l’inclinaison de la galaxie et de la position de la barre par rapport à l’observateur, le rapportM/L était très souvent surestimé avec des erreurs allant jusqu’`a 25%. La taille et la force de labarre sont également apparus comme des facteurs importants mais une étude plus approfondies’imposerait afin de quantifier ce résultat.D’autre part, je me suis intéressé à l’impact d’une barre sur la distribution de masse et de métauxdans une galaxie lenticulaire. J’ai tout d’abord confirmé que la présence d’une barre, de partson influence sur la dynamique d’un système, applatissait les gradients de métallicité. De plusj’ai montré que le degrés d’aplatissement ainsi que la position des zones affectées peuvent êtredirectement mis en relation avec la structure de la barre et notament avec la localisation desrésonances dynamiques. Néanmoins l’influence purement dynamique d’une barre n’explique pasà elle seule les gradients d’âges et de m´etallicité observés. L’étude de l’influence d’un potentielgravitationnel barré sur la dynamique du gaz et donc sur la formation stellaire est donc égalementà prendre un compte. Cela fait l’objet des dernières simulations produites qui permettront de mieuxcomprendre l’influence global d’une barre sur l’évolution séculaire des galaxies de type précoce. / Since the 30’s and Edwin Hubble’s famous classification, galaxies are usually separated in twogroups : the late-type galaxies (LTGs) and the early-type galaxies (ETGs). The LTGs family ismainly made of spiral galaxies (S) while the ETGs family is composed of elliptical (E) and lenticular(S0) galaxies. A morphological study of all these galaxies revealed that around 60% of LTGs and45% of S0 present a bar. It has also been shown that, in the local Universe, galaxies fall into twobig groups : the blue cloud mostly populated by LTGs and the red sequence mainly made of ETGs.Several mechanisms are responsible for this distribution and the secular evolution is obviously animportant one to examine, sepcially in the context of bars, as an important number of studiesshowed the importance of bars in the dynamics and evolution of a galaxy.The goal of my thesis is to study the importance of the formation and ensued bar-drivenevolution influence on ETGs evolution. In that context, I have performed N-body simulations ofbarred (and unbarred) galaxies in order to investigate the following issues.First of all, I focused on the influence of a bar in a galaxy when modelling it with a dynamicalmodel assuming an axisymmetric mass distribution. As these kinds of models allow to determine themass-to-light ratio M/L, thus the dynamical mass of an observed galaxy, but also its inclinationand its anisotropy, it is important to evalute the consequence of the presence of a bar on theseparameters. I have shown that, depending on the galaxy inclination and the bar position angle,M/L is most of the time biased and overestimated, and this can be up to 25%. The size andstrength of the bar also seem to be important factors but a deeper study has to be done to quantifythis preliminary result.In a second step, I have studied the role of bars on the mass and metallicity redistributionsin a lenticular galaxy. I confirmed that the presence of a bar, due to its influence on its hostsystem dynamics, flattens pre-existing metallicity gradients. Moreover, I showed that the degree offlattening and the position of affected regions are directly correlated with the bar structure and thelocation of the dynamical resonances. Nonetheless, this dynamical effect cannot explain the varietyof observed ages and metallicity gradients. The consequences of a barred gravitational potentialon the gas dynamics and the stellar formation should therefore be investigated. This is the topicof the last set of numerical simulations produced which will allow to better understand the globalinfluence a bar has on the secular evolution of ETGs.