Found 20 talks width keyword early-type galaxies
Abstract
Stellar halos of galaxies offer an important laboratory to understand the galaxies’ formation process and evolution. In fact, the dynamic time scale in the halos are large, and the imprint of the formation mechanisms may still be preserved at large radii in the kinematics, in the orbital structure, in streams and substructures, or in the chemical composition and distribution of stars.
I will discuss i) the kinematic and dynamical properties of stellar halos in early type galaxies as derived from tracers like planetary nebulae and globular clusters; and ii) the stellar population properties as derived from deep long-slit spectra in a number of massive ellipticals. Results are then discussed in the framework of galaxy halo formation mechanisms.
Abstract
We present the K band FP of the ETGs members of the clusters observed by the WINGS survey. The data confirm a different tilt of the FP with respect to the V solution and the presence of a substantial tilt in the K band. This led us to further investigate the hypothesis that ETG non-homology greatly contribute to the tilt of the FP.
The WINGS data show that there are now several evidence of both structural and dynamical non-homology for the class of ETGs. Among these we will discuss in detail the tight relation between the mass of the ETGs, their stellar mass-to-light ratio M/L, and the Sersic index n describing the shape of their light profiles. We guess through a series of mock simulations that this relation acts as a fine-tuning that keeps small the scatter around the FP. We therefore conclude that ETG non-homology is closely connected either with the problem of the tilt and with the small scatter around the FP.
Abstract
Early-type dwarfs (dEs) are by far the most abundant galaxy population in nearby clusters. Whether these objects are primordial, or recent end-products of the different physical mechanisms that can transform galaxies once they enter these high-density environments, is still a matter of debate. Here we present a novel approach to test the latter scenario by comparing the properties of the globular cluster systems of dEs and their potential progenitors with simple predictions from gravitational and hydrodynamical interactions. Current data in the literature do not favour violent mechanisms, but gentle processes with long timescales or that took place at the early stages of their formation.
Abstract
Two-dimensional stellar kinematics obtained with the integral-field spectrograph SAURON allow the classification of early-type galaxies into 'slow' and 'fast' rotators, different from their morphological classification into ellipticals and lenticulars. Most fast rotators, including lenticular as well as many elliptical galaxies, are consistent with oblate axisymmetric disk-like systems. On the other hand, the slow-rotator ellipticals show clear deviations from axisymmetry, which can be modeled with our extension of Schwarzschild's orbit superposition method to triaxial geometry. Besides galaxies, I show that Schwarzschild's method can also be used to model in detail globular clusters such as ω Cen and M15. The recovered internal orbital structure of ω Cen reveals besides a signature of tidal interaction, also a central stellar disk, supporting its origin as the nucleus of a stripped dwarf galaxy. The formally best-fit Schwarzschild model for M15 includes an intermediate-mass black hole, but we cannot exclude a model in which dark remnants make up the dark mass in the collapsed core.
Abstract
CALIFA is the largest IFS survey ever performed up to date. Recently started, it will observe ~600 galaxies in the Local Universe with PPAK at the 3.5m of the Calar Alto Observatory, sampling most of the size of these galaxies and covering the optical wavelength range between 3700-7100 Å, using to spectroscopic setups. The main goal of this survey is to characterize the spatially resolved spectroscopic properties (both the stellar and ionized gas components) of all the population of galaxies at the current cosmological time, in order to understand in detail the how is the final product of the evolution of galaxies. To do so, the sample will cover all the possible galaxies within the color-magnitude diagram, down to MB ~ -18 mag, from big dry early-types to active fainter late-type galaxies. The main science drivers of the survey is to understand how galaxies evolve within the CM-diagram, understanding the details the process of star formation, metal enrichment, migrations and morphological evolution of galaxies.
Abstract
The SAURON survey has revised our view of early type galaxies discovering that central disks and multiple kinematic components are common; 75% of the sample have extended ionized gas, often misaligned with the stars; half of S0s and 25% of Es have intermediate age populations. There is a tight relationship between the escape velocity and Mg line strength which holds both within and between galaxies raising uncomfortable questions for hierarchical assembly. Many of the properties of ETGs are related to a measure of their specific angular momentum : slow rotators are triaxial, close to spherical, isotropic and frequently exhibit decoupled central kinematics, whereas fast rotators are intrinsically flatter, oblate, have disk-like (anisotropic) kinematics and often have Mg enhanced disks. In general the slow rotators are more massive and have older populations Only half of the elliptical galaxies exhibit slow rotation, the remainder have stellar disks showing that the historic division by morphological class is physically misleading. We suggest that the contrasting physical properties of fast and slow rotators arise through distinct assembly histories with slow rotators forming in gas free, dry mergers and fast rotators retaining a disk component through a dissipative merger.
Abstract
The colour distribution of globular cluster (GC) systems in the majority of galaxies is bi/multimodal in optical colours. It is widely accepted that multiple populations differing in metallicity exist implying different mechanisms/epochs of star formation, with small age differences still being allowed due to the large current uncertainties. Recently Yoon, Yi and Lee (2006) challenged this interpretation stating that the metallicity bimodality is an artifact of the horizontal branch (HB) morphologies that can transform a unimodal metallicity distribution in a bimodal (optical) colour distribution. The combination of optical and near-infrared (NIR) colours can in principal break the age/metallicity degeneracy inherent in optical colours alone, allowing age estimates for a large sample of GCs possible at the same time. It has been shown that the colours that best represent the true metallicity distributions are the combination of optical and NIR (eg. Puzia et al. 2002, Cantiello & Blakeslee 2007). Therefore studying GCs in the NIR is crucial to reveal their true metallicity distributions. We are currently building a homogeneous optical/NIR data set of GC systems in a large sample of elliptical and lenticular galaxies. I will present the sample, an attempt to estimate overall ages and metallicities for the GC systems and the optical/NIR colour distributions.
Abstract
From galaxy formation theory we expect galaxies to be embedded in massive dark matter haloes. For spiral and dwarf galaxies this has indeed been observationally confirmed, by modeling the kinematics from the large cold gas discs that often surround these galaxies. These gas discs are however rare in elliptical galaxies, so that we have to resort to other tracers when we want to probe their dark matter haloes, which are not always easily accessible. As a result, dark haloes for only a handful of early-type galaxies have been mapped. In this talk I will give an overview of the methods that can be used to find dark matter in early-type galaxies. I will then focus on two projects that I worked on with the integral-field spectrograph SAURON, using two different methods to constrain the dark halo. The first is based on the combination of two-dimensional ionised gas and cold gas kinematics. The second method uses SAURON as a 'photon collector', to obtain spectra at large radii in galaxies. From these spectra we can not only obtain the velocity profile and construct mass models to constrain the dark halo, but also infer the properties of the stellar halo population. I will show the results from these two projects and discuss some future prospects.
Abstract
(1) We present SAURON integral-field stellar velocity and velocity dispersion maps for four double-barred early-type galaxies: NGC2859, NGC3941,NGC4725 and NGC5850. The presence of the nuclear bar is not evident from the radial velocity, but it appears to have an important effect in the stellar velocity dispersion maps: we find two sigma-hollows of amplitudes between 10 and 40 km/s at either sides of the center, at the ends of the nuclear bars. We have performed numerical simulations to explain these features. Ruling out other possibilities, we finally conclude that, although the sigma-hollows may be originated by a younger stellar population component with low velocity dispersion, more likely they are an effect of the contrast between two kinematically different components: the high velocity dispersion of the bulge and the ordered motion (low velocity dispersion) of the nuclear bar.(2) We have explored radial color and stellar surface mass density profiles for a sample of 85 late-type galaxies with available deep (down to ~27.0 mag/arcsec2 SDSS g'- and r'-band surface brightness profiles. About 90% of the light profiles have been classified as broken exponentials, exhibiting either truncations (Type II galaxies) or antitruncations (Type III galaxies). Their associated color profiles show significantly different behavior. For the truncated galaxies a radial inside-out bluing reaches a minimum of (g' - r') = 0.47 +/- 0.02 mag at the position of the break radius, this is followed by a reddening outwards. The anti-truncated galaxies reveal a more complex behavior: at the break position (calculated from the light profiles) the color profile reaches a plateau region - preceded with a reddening - with a mean color of about (g' - r') = 0.57 +/- 0.02 mag. Using the color to calculate the stellar surface mass density profiles reveals a surprising result. The breaks, well established in the light profiles of the Type II galaxies, are almost gone, and the mass profiles resemble now those of the pure exponential Type I galaxies. This result suggests that the origin of the break in Type II galaxies are most likely to be a radial change in stellar population, rather than being caused by an actual drop in the distribution of mass. The anti-truncated galaxies on the other hand preserve their shape to some extent in the stellar surface mass density profiles. We find that the stellar surface mass density at the break for truncated (Type II) galaxies is 13.6 +/- 1.6 Msun/pc2 and 9.9 +/- 1.3 Msun/pc2 for the anti-truncated (Type III) ones. We estimate that ~15% of the total stellar mass in case of Type II galaxies and ~9% in case of Type III galaxies are to be found beyond the measured break radii.
Abstract
Bars are important engines for the evolution of structure in galaxies. Bars can cause secular evolution of both the gas and stellar distributions in galaxies, and recently it has been suggested that bars may be recurrent features, forming, dissolving, and reforming over a Hubble time. Models also have suggested that the strength of bars depends on how effectively the bar can transfer angular momentum to outer halo material. Evaluating current models requires an effective way of quantifying the strengths of bars. In my presentation, I will describe recent attempts to use gravitational torques implied by near-infrared images as a means of quantifying both bars and spirals in disk galaxies. I will also describe some of the recent findings based on Fourier analysis of early-type galaxy bars.<< First « Newer 1 | 2 Older »
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