The GECKOS Survey: Identifying kinematic sub-structures in edge-on galaxies
A. Fraser-McKelvie, J. van de Sande, D. A. Gadotti, E. Emsellem, T. Brown, D. B. Fisher, M. Martig, M. Bureau, O. Gerhard, A. J. Battisti, J. Bland-Hawthorn, A.… 展开作者
A. Fraser-McKelvie, J. van de Sande, D. A. Gadotti, E. Emsellem, T. Brown, D. B. Fisher, M. Martig, M. Bureau, O. Gerhard, A. J. Battisti, J. Bland-Hawthorn, A. Boecker, B. Catinella, F. Combes, L. Cortese, S. M. Croom, T. A. Davis, J. Falcón-Barroso, F. Fragkoudi, K. C. Freeman, M. R. Hayden, R. McDermid, B. Mazzilli Ciraulo, J. T. Mendel, F. Pinna, A. Poci, T. H. Rutherford, C. de Sá-Freitas, L. A. Silva-Lima, L. M. Valenzuela, G. van de Ven, Z. Wang, A. B. Watts
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32 pages (9 of which are appendix), 26 figures, accepted 12/06/2025 to A&A
The vertical evolution of galactic discs is governed by the sub-structures within them. We examine the diversity of kinematic sub-structure present in the first 12 galaxies observed from the GECKOS survey, a VLT/MUSE large programme providing a systematic study of 36 edge-on, Milky Way-mass disc galaxies. Employing the nGIST analysis pipeline, we derive the mean line-of-sight stellar velocity ($V_{\star}$), velocity dispersion ($σ_{\star}$), skew ($h_{3}$), and kurtosis ($h_{4}$) for the sample, and examine 2D maps and 1D line profiles. Visually, the majority of this sample (8/12) are found to possess boxy-peanut bulges and host the corresponding kinematic structure predicted for stellar bars viewed in projection. Four galaxies exhibit strong evidence for the presence of nuclear discs, including central $h_{3}$-$V_{\star}$ sign mismatch, `croissant'-shaped central depressions in $σ_{\star}$ maps, strong gradients in $h_{3}$, and positive $h_{4}$ plateaus over the expected nuclear disc extent. The strength of the $h_{3}$ feature corresponds to the size of the nuclear disc, measured from the $h_{3}$ turnover radius. We can explain the features within the kinematic maps of all sample galaxies via disc structure(s) alone. We do not find any need to invoke the existence of dispersion-dominated bulges. Obtaining the specialised data products for this paper and the broader GECKOS survey required significant development of existing integral field spectroscopic (IFS) analysis tools. Therefore, we also present the nGIST pipeline: a modern, sophisticated, and easy-to-use pipeline for the analysis of galaxy IFS data. We conclude that the variety of kinematic sub-structures seen in GECKOS galaxies requires a contemporary view of galaxy morphology, expanding on the traditional view of galaxy structure, and uniting the kinematic complexity observed in the Milky Way with the extragalactic.
The GECKOS Survey: revealing the formation history of a barred galaxy via structural decomposition and resolved spectroscopy
European Southern Observatory(欧洲南方天文台);Durham University(杜伦大学);Liverpool John Moores University(利物浦约翰摩尔斯大学);University of Oxford(牛津大学);Cardiff University(卡迪夫大学);Swinburne University of Technology(斯威本科技大学);University of Oklahoma(俄克拉荷马大学)
The GECKOS survey: Assembly history of the lenticular galaxy NGC 3957
Liverpool John Moores University(利物浦约翰摩尔斯大学);Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院上海天文台);European Southern Observatory(欧洲南方天文台);University of Vienna(维也纳大学);University of New South Wales(新南威尔士大学);Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(加那利群岛天体物理研究所);Universidad de La Laguna(拉古纳大学);Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon1, ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon UMR5574(里昂大学、里昂第一大学、里昂高等师范学院、法国国家科学研究中心、里昂天体物理研究中心);University of Durham(杜伦大学)
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Bishop’s University(主教大学);Trottier Space Institute and Department of Physics, McGill University(麦吉尔大学特鲁蒂尔太空研究所和物理系);California Institute of Technology(加州理工学院);Vanderbilt University(范德堡大学)
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University of California, Los Angeles(加州大学洛杉矶分校);University of Chicago(芝加哥大学);Independent University, Bangladesh(孟加拉独立大学);University of Oxford(牛津大学);Technical University of Munich(慕尼黑工业大学);Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics(马克斯·普朗克天体物理学研究所)