* Astronomy

Title: H\alpha Kinematics of S4G spiral galaxies I. NGC 864
Authors: Santiago Erroz-Ferrer, Johan H. Knapen, Joan Font, John E. Beckman, Jesús Falcón-Barroso, José Ramón Sánchez-Gallego, E. Athanassoula, Albert Bosma, Dimitri A. Gadotti, Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mateos, Kartik Sheth, Ronald J. Buta, Sébastien Comerón, Armando Gil de Paz, Joannah L. Hinz, Luis C. Ho, Taehyun Kim, Jarkko Laine, Eija Laurikainen, Barry F. Madore, Karín Menéndez-Delmestre, Trisha Mizusawa, Michael W. Regan, Heikki Salo, Mark Seibert

We present a study of the kinematics of the isolated spiral galaxy NGC 864, using H{\alpha} Fabry-Perot data obtained with the GH{\alpha}FaS instrument at the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, complemented with images at 3.6 µm, in the R band and in H{\alpha} filter, and integral field spectroscopic data. The resulting data cubes and velocity maps allow the study of the kinematics of the galaxy, including in-depth investigations of the rotation curve, velocity moment maps, velocity residual maps, gradient maps and position-velocity diagrams. We find asymmetries in the velocity field in the bar zone, caused by non-circular motions, probably in response to the potential of the bar. We also find a flat-profile bar, in agreement with the strong bar, with the grand design spiral pattern, and with the gap between the ends of the bar and the start of the spiral arms. We quantify the rate of massive star formation, which is concentrated in the two spiral arms.

Read more (2652kb, PDF)