[en] About the half of galaxies offers spiral shapes that remained unexplained for a long time. The problem of their origin remains unsolved but explanations are now given for such shapes to exist and to be maintained. Till now no contradiction with observation might infer the ruin of the theories built but the critical time occurs where new observations may confirm or cancel the various theoretical predictions

No abstract available

[en] Recent studies find that some early-type galaxies host Type II or Ibc supernovae (SNe II, Ibc). This may imply recent star formation activities in these SNe host galaxies, but a massive star origin of the SNe Ib so far observed in early-type galaxies has been questioned because of their intrinsic faintness and unusually strong Ca lines shown in the nebular phase. To address the issue, we investigate the properties of early-type SNe host galaxies using the data with Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) ultraviolet photometry and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical data. Our sample includes eight SNe II and one peculiar SN Ib (SN 2000ds) host galaxies as well as 32 SN Ia host galaxies. The host galaxy of SN 2005cz, another peculiar SN Ib, is also analyzed using the GALEX data and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database optical data. We find that the NUV-optical colors of SN II/Ib host galaxies are systematically bluer than those of SN Ia host galaxies, and some SN II/Ib host galaxies with NUV - r colors markedly bluer than the others exhibit strong radio emission. We perform a stellar population synthesis analysis and find a clear signature of recent star formation activities in most of the SN II/Ib host galaxies. Our results generally support the association of the SNe II/Ib hosted in early-type galaxies with core collapse of massive stars. We briefly discuss implications for the progenitors of the peculiar SNe Ib 2000ds and 2005cz.

[en] The review is about the recent results of quasar evolution and the physical properties of quasars and Bl Lacertae objects. (WL)

[en] The analysis of dynamic evolution of stellar systems containing ''hidden masses'' showed that the objects of a hidden mass could not form in united complexes with the visual population of galaxies. It is more likely that such complexes have been actually nonexistent and hidden masses still in the gas phase have been distributed in forming systems of galaxies in considerably greater volumes than the substance from which the first generation stars have arized

[en] We identify a 'supernova rate problem': the measured cosmic core-collapse supernova rate is a factor of ∼2 smaller (with significance ∼2σ) than that predicted from the measured cosmic massive-star formation rate. The comparison is critical for topics from galaxy evolution and enrichment to the abundance of neutron stars and black holes. We systematically explore possible resolutions. The accuracy and precision of the star formation rate data and conversion to the supernova rate are well supported, and proposed changes would have far-reaching consequences. The dominant effect is likely that many supernovae are missed because they are either optically dim (low-luminosity) or dark, whether intrinsically or due to obscuration. We investigate supernovae too dim to have been discovered in cosmic surveys by a detailed study of all supernova discoveries in the local volume. If possible supernova impostors are included, then dim supernovae are common enough by fraction to solve the supernova rate problem. If they are not included, then the rate of dark core collapses is likely substantial. Other alternatives are that there are surprising changes in our understanding of star formation or supernova rates, including that supernovae form differently in small galaxies than in normal galaxies. These possibilities can be distinguished by upcoming supernova surveys, star formation measurements, searches for disappearing massive stars, and measurements of supernova neutrinos.

[en] We perform collisionless N-body simulations to investigate whether binary mergers between rotationally supported dwarfs can lead to the formation of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). Our simulation campaign is based on a hybrid approach combining cosmological simulations and controlled numerical experiments. We select merger events from a Constrained Local Universe simulation of the Local Group (LG) and record the properties of the interacting dwarf-sized halos. This information is subsequently used to seed controlled experiments of binary encounters between dwarf galaxies consisting of exponential stellar disks embedded in cosmologically motivated dark matter halos. These simulations are designed to reproduce eight cosmological merger events, with initial masses of the interacting systems in the range ∼(5-60) x 10⁷ M_sun, occurring quite early in the history of the LG, more than 10 Gyr ago. We compute the properties of the merger remnants as a distant observer would and demonstrate that at least three of the simulated encounters produce systems with kinematic and structural properties akin to those of the classic dSphs in the LG. Tracing the history of the remnants in the cosmological simulation to z = 0, we find that two dSph-like objects remain isolated at distances ∼> 800 kpc from either the Milky Way or M31. These systems constitute plausible counterparts of the remote dSphs Cetus and Tucana which reside in the LG outskirts, far from the tidal influence of the primary galaxies. We conclude that merging of rotationally supported dwarfs represents a viable mechanism for the formation of dSphs in the LG and similar environments.

[en] This paper presents several scenarios for the universe evolution, this one depending now on factors badly known such as the density of the matter in the universe or the proton stability

[en] If thick disks are ubiquitous and a natural product of disk galaxy formation and/or evolution processes, all undisturbed galaxies that have evolved during a significant fraction of a Hubble time should have a thick disk. The late-type spiral galaxy NGC 4244 has been reported as the only nearby edge-on galaxy without a confirmed thick disk. Using data from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S⁴G) we have identified signs of two disk components in this galaxy. The asymmetries between the light profiles on both sides of the mid-plane of NGC 4244 can be explained by a combination of the galaxy not being perfectly edge-on and a certain degree of opacity of the thin disk. We argue that the subtlety of the thick disk is a consequence of either a limited secular evolution in NGC 4244, a small fraction of stellar material in the fragments which built the galaxy, or a high amount of gaseous accretion after the formation of the galaxy.

[en] A recent survey of the Galaxy and M31 reveals that more than 90% of dwarf galaxies within 270 kpc of their host galaxy are deficient in H I gas. At such an extreme radius, the coronal halo gas is an order of magnitude too low to remove H I gas through ram pressure stripping for any reasonable orbit distribution. However, all dwarfs are known to have an ancient stellar population (∼> 10 Gyr) from early epochs of vigorous star formation which, through heating of H I, could allow the hot halo to remove this gas. Our model looks at the evolution of these dwarf galaxies analytically as the host-galaxy dark matter halo and coronal halo gas build up over cosmic time. The dwarf galaxies-treated as spherically symmetric, smooth distributions of dark matter and gas-experience early star formation, which sufficiently heats the gas, allowing it to be removed easily through tidal stripping by the host galaxy, or ram pressure stripping by a tenuous hot halo (n_H = 3 x 10^-4 cm^-3 at 50 kpc). This model of evolution is able to explain the observed radial distribution of gas-deficient and gas-rich dwarfs around the Galaxy and M31 if the dwarfs fell in at high redshift (z ∼ 3-10).