Publications (47)
The Formation of Galactic Bulges
Reynier Peletier, Marc Balcells, Jesus Falcon-Barroso +1
We summarise some recent results about nearby galactic bulges that are relevant to their formation. We highlight a number of significant advances in our understanding of the surfac…
The upcoming spectroscopic powerhouses at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
Marc Balcells
The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes is completing a strategic change for the scientific use of its two telescopes, the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) and the 2.5-m Isaac N…
Velocity Dispersions and Stellar Populations of the Most Compact and Massive Early-Type Galaxies at Redshift ~1
Jesus Martinez-Manso, Rafael Guzman, Guillermo Barro +9
We present Gran-Telescopio-Canarias/OSIRIS optical spectra of 4 of the most compact and massive early-type galaxies in the Groth Strip Survey at redshift z~1, with effective radii…
Two new confirmed massive relic galaxies: red nuggets in the present-day Universe
Anna Ferré-Mateu, Ignacio Trujillo, Ignacio MartÃn-Navarro +4
We confirm two new local massive relic galaxies, i.e. untouched survivors of the early universe massive population: Mrk1216 and PGC032873. Both show early and peaked formation even…
The AOLI low-order non-linear curvature wavefront sensor: a method for high sensitivity wavefront reconstruction
Jonathan Crass, Peter Aisher, Bruno Femenia +13
The Adaptive Optics Lucky Imager (AOLI) is a new instrument under development to demonstrate near diffraction limited imaging in the visible on large ground-based telescopes. We pr…
Evolution induced by dry minor mergers onto fast-rotator S0 galaxies
Trinidad Tapia, M. Carmen Eliche-Moral, Miguel Querejeta +9
We analysed collisionless N-body simulations of intermediate and minor dry mergers onto S0s to test whether these mergers can generate S0 galaxies with kinematics intermediate betw…
NGC 7457: Evidence for merger-driven cylindrical rotation in disc galaxies
Alireza Molaeinezhad, Ling Zhu, Jesús Falcón-Barroso +7
We construct Schwarzschild orbit-based models of NGC 7457, known as a peculiar low-mass lenticular galaxy. Our best-fitting model successfully retrieves most of the unusual kinemat…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey IV. Intergalactic Globular Clusters and the Massive Globular Cluster System at the Core of the Coma Galaxy Cluster
Eric W. Peng, Henry C. Ferguson, Paul Goudfrooij +21
Intracluster stellar populations are a natural result of tidal interactions in galaxy clusters. Measuring these populations is difficult, but important for understanding the assemb…
Optimisation of the WEAVE target assignment algorithm
Sarah Hughes, Gavin Dalton, Daniel Smith +12
WEAVE is the new wide-field spectroscopic facility for the prime focus of the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, Spain. Its fibre positioner is essential for the accurate plac…
SHARDS: an optical spectro-photometric survey of distant galaxies
Pablo G. Perez-Gonzalez, Antonio Cava, Guillermo Barro +26
(Abridged) We present the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS), an ESO/GTC Large Program carried out with GTC/OSIRIS. SHARDS is an ultra-deep optical spectro-…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey - VII. Structure and Assembly of Massive Galaxies in the Center of the Coma Cluster
Tim Weinzirl, Shardha Jogee, Eyal Neistein +16
We constrain the assembly history of galaxies in the projected central 0.5 Mpc of the Coma cluster by performing structural decomposition on 69 massive (M_star >= 10^9 M_sun) galax…
Evolution along the sequence of S0 Hubble types induced by dry minor mergers. I - Global bulge-to-disk structural relations
M. Carmen Eliche-Moral, A. Cesar Gonzalez-Garcia, J. Alfonso L. Aguerri +4
Recent studies have argued that galaxy mergers are not important drivers for the evolution of S0's, on the basis that mergers cannot preserve the coupling between the bulge and dis…
Massive relic galaxies prefer dense environments
Luis Peralta de Arriba, Vicent Quilis, Ignacio Trujillo +2
We study the preferred environments of massive relic galaxies ( galaxies with little or no growth from star formation or merger…
Bulges on the Fundamental Plane of Early-Type Galaxies
Jesús Falcón-Barroso, Reynier F. Peletier, Marc Balcells
In an ongoing effort to study the formation and evolution of galactic bulges we have investigated the position of 19 bulges of type S0-Sbc on the fundamental plane (FP). We find th…
Are Dry Mergers Dry, Moist, or Wet?
Patricia Sanchez-Blazquez, Brad K. Gibson, Daisuke Kawata +2
We present a spectral analysis of a sample of red-sequence galaxies identified by van Dokkum (2005) as dry merger remnants and ongoing dry mergers. Kinematics, stellar population a…
Relic galaxies: where are they?
Luis Peralta de Arriba, Vicent Quilis, Ignacio Trujillo +2
The finding that massive galaxies grow with cosmic time fired the starting gun for the search of objects which could have survived up to the present day without suffering substanti…
Which galaxy mass estimator can we trust?
Luis Peralta de Arriba, Marc Balcells, Jesús Falcón-Barroso +1
We address the problem that dynamical masses of high-redshift massive galaxies, derived using virial scaling, often come out lower than stellar masses inferred from population fitt…
The imprints of bars on the vertical stellar population gradients of galactic bulges
Alireza Molaeinezhad, Jesús Falcón-Barroso, Inma MartÃnez-Valpuesta +5
This is the second paper of a series aimed to study the stellar kinematics and population properties of bulges in highly-inclined barred galaxies. In this work, we carry out a deta…
Barred Galaxies in the Coma Cluster
Irina Marinova, Shardha Jogee, Neil Trentham +14
We use ACS data from the HST Treasury survey of the Coma cluster (z~0.02) to study the properties of barred galaxies in the Coma core, the densest environment in the nearby Univers…
Calibration at elevation of the WEAVE fibre positioner
Sarah Hughes, Gavin Dalton, Kevin Dee +11
WEAVE is the new wide-field spectroscopy facility for the prime focus of the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, Spain. Its fibre positioner is essential for the accurate place…
Dynamical masses and non-homology of massive elliptical galaxies grown by dry mergers
Matteo Frigo, Marc Balcells
We study whether dry merger-driven size growth of massive elliptical galaxies depends on their initial structural concentration, and analyse the validity of the homology hypothesis…
Establishing the level of cylindrical rotation in Boxy/Peanut bulges
Alireza Molaeinezhad, Jesus Falcón-Barroso, Inma MartÃnez-Valpuesta +3
We present SAURON integral-field observations of a sample of 12 mid to high-inclination disk galaxies, to unveil hidden bars on the basis of their kinematics, i.e., the correlation…
NGC1277: a massive compact relic galaxy in the nearby Universe
Ignacio Trujillo, Anna Ferre-Mateu, Marc Balcells +2
As early as 10 Gyr ago, galaxies with more than 10^11 Msun in stars already existed. While most of these massive galaxies must have subsequently transformed through on-going star f…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey. II. Data Description and Source Catalogs
Derek Hammer, Gijs Verdoes Kleijn, Carlos Hoyos +45
The Coma cluster was the target of a HST-ACS Treasury program designed for deep imaging in the F475W and F814W passbands. Although our survey was interrupted by the ACS instrument…
Spheroid and disk signatures in galaxy bulges
Marc Balcells
Recent progress on the structure and dynamics of bulges is reviewed. Those aspects that link galaxy bulges either to oblate spheroids akin to elliptical galaxies or to rapidly-rota…
Evolutionary paths among different red galaxy types at 0.3 < z < 1.5 and the late buildup of massive E-S0's through major mergers
Mercedes Prieto, M. Carmen Eliche-Moral, Marc Balcells +11
Some recent observations seem to disagree with hierarchical theories of galaxy formation about the role played by major mergers in the late buildup of massive E-S0's. We re-address…
Evolution along the sequence of S0 Hubble types induced by dry minor mergers. II - Bulge-disk coupling in the photometric relations through merger-induced internal secular evolution
M. Carmen Eliche-Moral, A. Cesar Gonzalez-Garcia, J. Alfonso L. Aguerri +4
Galaxy mergers are considered as questionable mechanisms for the evolution of lenticular galaxies (S0's), on the basis that even minor ones induce structural changes that are diffi…
Caught in the act: Cluster `k+a' galaxies as a link between spirals and S0s
Bruno Rodriguez Del Pino, Steven P. Bamford, Alfonso Aragon-Salamanca +3
We use integral field spectroscopy of 13 disk galaxies in the cluster AC114 at z ~ 0.31 in an attempt to disentangle the physical processes responsible for the transformation of sp…
Massive relic galaxies challenge the co-evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies
Anna Ferré-Mateu, Mar Mezcua, Ignacio Trujillo +2
We study a sample of eight massive galaxies that are extreme outliers (3-5) in the M-M local scaling relation. Two of these galaxies are confirmed…
The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation
Shoko Jin, Scott C. Trager, Gavin B. Dalton +212
WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree…
Galactic Bulges from HST-NICMOS Observations: Ages and Dust
Reynier Peletier, Marc Balcells, Roger Davies +4
We present optical and near-infrared colour maps of the central regions of bulges of S0 and spiral galaxies obtained with WFPC2 and NICMOS on the HST. By combined use of HST and gr…
Two tails in NGC 3656, and the major merger origin of shell and minor axis dust lane ellipticals
Marc Balcells
I report on the discovery of two faint (~ 26.8 Rmag/arcsec^2) tidal tails around the shell elliptical NGC 3656 (Arp 155). This galaxy had previously been interpreted as a case of a…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey: I - Survey Objectives and Design
David Carter, Paul Goudfrooij, Bahram Mobasher +34
We describe the HST ACS Coma cluster Treasury survey, a deep two-passband imaging survey of one of the nearest rich clusters of galaxies, the Coma cluster (Abell 1656). The survey…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey III. Structural Parameters of Galaxies using single-Sérsic Fits
Carlos Hoyos, Mark den Brok, Gijs Verdoes Kleijn +14
We present a catalogue of structural parameters for 8814 galaxies in the 25 fields of the HST/ACS Coma Treasury Survey. Parameters from Sérsic fits to the two-dimensional surface…
AOLI-- Adaptive Optics Lucky Imager: Diffraction Limited Imaging in the Visible on Large Ground-Based Telescopes
Craig Mackay, Rafael Rebolo-López, Bruno Femenia Castellá +13
The highest resolution images ever taken in the visible were obtained by combining Lucky Imaging and low order adaptive optics. This paper describes a new instrument to be deployed…
The nature of late-type spiral galaxies: structural parameters, optical and near-infrared colour profiles, and dust extinction
Katia Ganda, Reynier Peletier, Marc Balcells +1
We analyse V and H-band surface photometry of a sample of 18 Sb-Sd galaxies. Combining high resolution HST images with ground-based NIR observations, we extract photometric profile…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey. X. Nuclear star clusters in low-mass early-type galaxies: scaling relations
Mark den Brok, Reynier F. Peletier, Anil Seth +16
We present scaling relations between structural properties of nuclear star clusters and their host galaxies for a sample of early-type dwarf galaxies observed as part of the Hubble…
Minor axis kinematics of 19 S0-Sbc bulges
Jesús Falcón-Barroso, Marc Balcells, Reynier F. Peletier +1
We present minor axis kinematic profiles for a well-studied sample of 19 early- to intermediate-type disk galaxies. We introduce, for the first time, the use of single-burst stella…
The morphologies and masses of extremely red galaxies in the Groth Strip survey
Angela Hempel, David Cristóbal-Hornillos, Mercedes Prieto +6
We present a new cataloge of EROs from the Groth strip and study the relation between their morphology and mass. We find 102 EROs (F814W-K=>4, K<=21.0), over a survey area of 155 a…
Why the Northern Hemisphere Needs a 30-40m Telescope and the Science at Stake: Ultra-Low-Mass Dwarf Galaxies Across the Boreal Cosmic Web
J. Alfonso L. Aguerri, Jesús Falcón-Barroso, MarÃa Argudo-Fernández +22
Dwarf galaxies dominate the galaxy population in the nearby Universe and occupy the regime where feedback, reionization, and environment exert their strongest influence on galaxy f…
Design drivers for a wide-field multi-object spectrograph for the William Herschel Telescope
Marc Balcells, Chris R. Benn, David Carter +21
Wide-field multi-object spectroscopy is a high priority for European astronomy over the next decade. Most 8-10m telescopes have a small field of view, making 4-m class telescopes a…
The WEAVE-TwiLight-Survey: Expanding WEAVE's Reach to Bright and Low-Surface-Density Targets with a Novel Observing Mode
Thomas Hajnik, Nicholas A. Walton, Giuseppe D'Ago +28
Current-day multi-object spectroscopic surveys are often limited in their ability to observe bright stars due to their low surface densities, resulting in increased observational o…
The nature of growing bulges within z < 1.3 galaxy disks in the GOODS-N field
Lilian Dominguez-Palmero, Marc Balcells
We analyze central surface brightness mu_0, nuclear and global colors of intermediate redshift disk galaxies. On an apparent-diameter limited sample of 398 galaxies from ACS/HST Gr…
Bulges of disk galaxies at intermediate redshifts.II. Nuclear, disk and global colours in the Groth Strip
Lilian Dominguez-Palmero, Marc Balcells
We analyse colours of the nuclear regions of intermediate redshift disk galaxies, with the aim of obtaining empirical information of relative ages of bulges and disks at 0.1 < z <…
The z=0.8 precursors of today's bulges
Marc Balcells, Lilian Dominguez-Palmero
We study the color structure of disk galaxies in the Groth strip at redshifts 0.1<z<1.2. Our aim is to test formation models in which bulges form before/after the disk. We find smo…
The near-IR Ca II triplet - sigma relation for bulges of spiral galaxies
Jesús Falcón-Barroso, Reynier F. Peletier, Alexandre Vazdekis +1
We present measurements of the near-infrared Calcium II triplet (CaT, CaT*), Paschen (PaT) and Magnesium (MgI) indices for a well-studied sample of 19 bulges of early to intermedia…
The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey. VIII. Barred Disk Galaxies in the Core of the Coma Cluster
Irina Marinova, Shardha Jogee, Tim Weinzirl +16
(ABRIDGED) We use high resolution (~0.1") F814W ACS images from the HST ACS Treasury survey of the Coma cluster at z~0.02 to study bars in massive disk galaxies (S0s), and in dwarf…