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1. ALFALFA Harvest: 3D Modeling of HI-Rich Candidate Local Group Dwarf Galaxies

   Bralts-Kelly, L.; Paine, S.; Adams, E. A.; Cannon, J. M.; Giovanelli, R.; Haynes, M. P.; Janesh, W.; Janowiecki, S.; Oosterloo, T.; Rhode, K. L.; et al (January 2020, American Astronomical Society meeting)

   The ALFALFA blind extragalactic survey has populated the faint end of the neutral hydrogen (HI) mass function with statistical confidence for the first time. Of particular interest is a subset of the ALFALFA detections, termed "ultra-compact high-velocity clouds" (UCHVCs). These systems, if located within ~1 Mpc, would populate the lowest-mass end of the HI mass function. Subsequent optical imaging has revealed that some of these UCHVCs harbor associated (though sparse) stellar populations, revealing that they may be some of the most extreme galaxies known in the Local Volume, with optical properties akin to ultra-faint dwarf galaxies but with significant neutral gas reservoirs. In this campaign, we investigate the neutral hydrogen properties of six UCHVC candidate galaxies using deep VLA HI spectral line imaging. A companion poster (Paine et al.) presents details on the data reduction, imaging, and resulting products. Here, we examine the morphological and kinematic properties of selected sources. We apply the modeling software 3D-Barolo to our deep HI images in order to derive the rotation curve and constrain the inclination angle for each source. Successful modeling allows us to determine the dynamical masses of these objects and thus to consider them in the context of various fundamental scaling relations defined by more massive galaxies. 

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2. HI-Bearing Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies: VLA Imaging of AGC 749290 and AGC 238764

   Gault, Lexi; Leisman, Lukas (January 2019, American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting)

   Ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) are galaxies with a very low optical surface brightness; they have very few stars for their given radius. Since UDGs are thus difficult to study in visible light, we observe radio emission from neutral hydrogen gas (HI) in these galaxies. Here we present observations of the HI gas in the UDGs AGC 749290 and AGC 238764. Initially selected from a sample of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies detected in the ALFALFA survey, these sources were imaged as a part of a follow up program using the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in both C and D configurations. We reduce the data using the CASA software suite, removing radio interference, applying calibration, and creating images. From these data we obtain spectra and maps of the galaxies' HI distribution and radial velocities. We find that both sources show ordered gas distributions and rotation, and that the HI gas extends well beyond the already extended optical emission. Further, we estimate inclinations and plot these sources on the Baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, providing tentative evidence that these sources are rotating too slowly for their given mass. This work has been supported by NSF grant AST-1637339. 

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3. Using Very Large Array Data to Image the Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy AGC 749251

   Reiter, Kameron; Leisman, Lukas (January 2019, American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting)

   Ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have generated significant interest in recent years, as their stars appear too spread out relative to typical galaxies, and because some UDGs appear to have more than typical amounts of dark matter. The ALFALFA Survey has detected a number of UDGs in the field that are rich with neutral hydrogen (HI). We use the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to image one of these HI-rich UDG, AGC 749251. We manually remove radio frequency interference, and reduce it using standard procedures in CASA. From the resulting data cubes we created 2D maps (moment 0 maps) and maps of the radial velocities of the HI gas. We find that the HI in AGC 749251 shows reasonably ordered morphology and rotation, and extends beyond the already extended optical emission. We estimate the source's inclination and rotation velocity, constraining the source's dark matter content. We also compare our results to other, non-ultra diffuse galaxies, and suggest that the rotation velocity seems low compared with other sources of similar mass. This work has been supported by NSF grant AST-1637339. 

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4. A Search for Gas-Rich Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Universe with ALFALFA and the WIYN One Degree Imager

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aceb5a  

   Rhode, Katherine L; Smith, Nicholas J; Janesh, William F; Salzer, John J; Adams, Elizabeth_A K; Haynes, Martha P; Janowiecki, Steven; Cannon, John M (August 2023, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract We present results from an optical search for Local Group dwarf galaxy candidates associated with the Ultra-Compact High Velocity Clouds (UCHVCs) discovered by the ALFALFA neutral hydrogen survey. The ALFALFA UCHVCs are isolated, compact Hiclouds with projected sizes, velocities, and estimated Himasses that suggest they may be nearby dwarf galaxies, but that have no clear counterpart in existing optical survey data. We observed 26 UCHVCs with the WIYN 3.5 m telescope and One Degree Imager (ODI) in two broadband filters and searched the images for resolved stars with properties that match those of stars in typical dwarf galaxies at distances <2.5 Mpc. We identify one promising dwarf galaxy candidate at a distance of ∼570 kpc associated with the UCHVC AGC 268071, and five other candidates that may deserve additional follow-up. We carry out a detailed analysis of ODI imaging of a UCHVC that is close in both projected distance and radial velocity to the outer-halo Milky Way globular cluster Pal 3. We also use our improved detection methods to reanalyze images of five UCHVCs that were found to have possible optical counterparts during the first phase of the project, and confirm the detection of a possible stellar counterpart to the UCHVC AGC 249525 at an estimated distance of ∼2 Mpc. We compare the optical and Hiproperties of the dwarf galaxy candidates to the results from recent theoretical simulations that model satellite galaxy populations in group environments, as well as to the observed properties of galaxies in and around the Local Group. 

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5. "Almost Darks": HI Mapping and Optical Analysis

   Singer, Quinton; Ball, Catie; Cannon, John M.; Leisman, Luke; Haynes, Martha P.; Adams, Elizabeth A.; Bernal Neira, David; Giovanelli, Riccardo; Hallenbeck, Gregory L.; Janesh, William; et al (January 2017, American Astronomical Society ... meeting)

   We present VLA HI imaging of the "Almost Dark" galaxies AGC 227982, AGC 268363, and AGC 219533. Selected from the ALFALFA survey, "Almost Dark" galaxies have significant HI reservoirs but lack an obvious stellar counterpart in survey-depth ground-based optical imaging. These three HI-rich objects harbor some of the most extreme levels of suppressed star formation amongst the isolated sources in the ALFALFA catalog. Our new multi-configuration, high angular (~20") and spectral (1.7 km/s) resolution HI observations produce spatially resolved column density and velocity distribution moment maps. We compare these images to Sloan Digitized Sky Survey (SDSS) optical images. By localizing the HI gas, we identify previously unknown optical components (offset from the ALFALFA pointing center) for AGC 227982 and AGC 268363, and confirm the association with a very low surface brightness stellar counterpart for AGC 219533. Baryonic masses are derived from VLA flux integral values and ALFALFA distance estimates, giving answers consistent with those derived from ALFALFA fluxes. All three sources appear to have fairly regular HI morphologies and show evidence of ordered rotation.Support for this work was provided by NSF grant 1211683 to JMC at Macalester College. 

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