272 research outputs found
The Tilt of the Fundamental Plane: Three-quarters Structural Nonhomology, One-quarter Stellar Population
The variation of the mass-to-light ratios M/L of early type galaxies as
function of their luminosities L is investigated. It is shown that the tilt
beta=0.27 (in the B--band) of the fundamental plane relation M/L ~ L^{beta} can
be understood as a combination of two effects: about one-quarter (i.e. dbeta
=0.07) is a result of systematic variations of the stellar population
properties with increasing luminosity. The remaining three-quarters (i.e. dbeta
=0.2) can be completely attributed to nonhomology effects that lead to a
systematic change of the surface brightness profiles with increasing
luminosity. Consequently, the observed tilt in the K-band (beta=0.17) where
stellar population effects are negligible, is explained by nonhomology effects
alone. After correcting for nonhomology, the mean value of the mass-to-light
ratio of elliptical galaxies (M/L_B) is 7.1+-2.8 (1 sigma scatter).Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, ApJL, 600, 39, minor changes made to match the
published versio
A correlation between light profile and [Mg/Fe] abundance ratio in early-type galaxies
We explore possible correlations between light profile shapes, as
parameterized by the Sersic index or the concentration index C_re(1/3), and
relevant stellar population parameters in early-type galaxies. Mean luminosity
weighted ages, metallicities and abundance ratios were obtained from spectra of
very high signal-to-noise and stellar population models that synthesize galaxy
spectra at the resolution given by their velocity dispersions, in combination
with an age indicator that is virtually free of the effects of metallicity. We
do not find any significant correlation between the Sersic index (or C_re(1/3))
and mean age or metallicity, but a strong positive correlation of the shape
parameters with [Mg/Fe] abundance ratio. This dependence is as strong as the
[Mg/Fe] vs. velocity dispersion and C_re(1/3) vs. velocity dispersion
relations. We speculate that early-type galaxies settle up their structure on
time-scales in agreement with those imposed by their [Mg/Fe] ratios. This
suggest that the global structure of larger galaxies, with larger [Mg/Fe]
ratios and shorter time-scales, was already at place at high z, without
experiencing a significant time evolution.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures (to appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
A near infrared photometric plane for ellipticals and bulges of spirals
We report the existence of a single plane in the space of global photometric
parameters describing elliptical galaxies and the bulges of early type spiral
galaxies. The three parameters which define the plane are obtained by fitting
the Sersic form to the brightness distribution obtained from near-infrared K
band images. We find, from the range covered by their shape parameters, that
the elliptical galaxies form a more homogeneous population than the bulges.
Known correlations like the Kormendy relation are projections of the
photometric plane. The existence of the plane has interesting implications for
bulge formation models.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX including 5 figures. To appear in the Astrophysical
Journal Letter
An X-ray Survey of Galaxies in Pairs
Results are reported from the first survey of X-ray emission from galaxies in
pairs. The sample consists of fifty-two pairs of galaxies from the Catalog of
Paired Galaxies Karachentsev (1972) whose coordinates overlap ROSAT Position
Sensitive Proportional Counter pointed observations. The mean observed log l_x
for early-type pairs is 41.35 +/-0.21 while the mean log l_x predicted using
the l_x-l_b relationship for isolated early-type galaxies is 42.10 +/-0.19.
With 95% confidence, the galaxies in pairs are underluminous in the X-ray,
compared to isolated galaxies, for the same l_b. A significant fraction of the
mixed pair sample also appear similarly underluminous. A spatial analysis shows
that the X-ray emission from pairs of both types typically has an extent of ~10
- 50 kpc, much smaller than group intergalactic medium and thus likely
originates from the galaxies. CPG 564, the most X-ray luminous early-type pair,
4.7x10^42 ergs/sec, is an exception. The extent of it's X-ray emission, >169
kpc, and HWHM, ~80 kpc, is comparable to that expected from an intergalactic
medium. The sample shows only a weak correlation, ~81% confidence, between l_x
and l_b, presumably due to variations in gas content within the galaxies. No
correlation between l_x and the pair velocity difference, separation, or
far-infrared luminosity is found though the detection rate is low, 22%.Comment: 40 pages, 6 jpg figures, ApJ (in press
Extremely Red Objects in Two Quasar Fields at z ~ 1.5
We present an investigation of the properties and environments of bright
extremely red objects (EROs) found in the fields of the quasars TXS 0145+386
and 4C 15.55, both at z ~ 1.4. There is marginal evidence from Chandra ACIS
imaging for hot cluster gas with a luminosity of a few 10^44 ergs/s in the
field of 4C 15.55. The TXS 0145+386 field has an upper limit at a similar
value, but it also clearly shows an overdensity of faint galaxies. None of the
EROs are detected as X-ray sources. For two of the EROs that have
spectral-energy distributions and rest-frame near-UV spectra that show that
they are strongly dominated by old stellar populations, we determine
radial-surface-brightness profiles from adaptive-optics images. Both of these
galaxies are best fit by profiles close to exponentials, plus a compact nucleus
comprising ~30% of the total light in one case and 8% in the other. Neither is
well fit by an r^1/4-law profile. This apparent evidence for the formation of
massive ~2 X 10^11 disks of old stars in the early universe indicates that at
least some galaxies formed essentially monolithically, with high star-formation
rates sustained over a few 10^8 years, and without the aid of major mergers.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures, accepted to Ap
Correlations among global photometric properties of disk galaxies
Using a two-dimensional galaxy image decomposition technique, we extract
global bulge and disk parameters for a complete sample of early type disk
galaxies in the near infrared K band. We find significant correlation of the
bulge parameter n with the central bulge surface brightness and with
effective radius r_e. Using bivar iate analysis techniques, we find that , and are distributed in a plane with small scatter. We
do not find a strong correlation of n with bulge-to-disk luminosity ratio,
contrary to earlier reports. r_e and the disk scale length r_d are well
correlated for these early type disk galaxies, but with large scatter. We
examine the implications of our results to various bulge formation scenarios in
disk galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX including 14 figures. To appear in the Astrophysical
Journa
A New Empirical Model for the Structural Analysis of Early-type Galaxies and a Critical Review of the Nuker Model
The Nuker law was designed to match the inner few (~3-10) arcseconds of
predominantly nearby (< 30 Mpc) early-type galaxy light-profiles; it was never
intended to describe an entire profile. The Sersic model, on the other hand,
was developed to fit the entire profile; however, due to the presence of
partially depleted galaxy cores, the Sersic model cannot always describe the
very inner region. We have therefore developed a new empirical model consisting
of an inner power-law, a transition region, and an outer Sersic model to
connect the inner and outer structure of elliptical galaxies. Moreover, the
stability of the Nuker model parameters are investigated. Surprisingly, none
are found to be stable quantities; all are shown to vary systematically with a
profile's fitted radial extent, and often by more than 100%. Considering
elliptical galaxies spanning a range of 7.5 magnitudes, the central stellar
density of the underlying host galaxy is observed to increase with galaxy
luminosity until the onset of core formation, detected only in the brightest
elliptical galaxies. We suggest that the so-called ``power-law'' galaxies may
actually be described by the Sersic model over their entire radial range
Shrinking of Cluster Ellipticals: a Tidal Stripping explanation and Implications for the Intra-Cluster Light
We look for evidence of tidal stripping in elliptical galaxies through the
analysis of homogeneous CCD data corresponding to a sample of 228 elliptical
galaxies belonging to 24 clusters of galaxies at . We
investigate departures from the standard magnitude-isophotal size relation, as
a function of environmental (cluster-centric distance, local galaxy density)
and structural (cluster velocity dispersion, Bautz-Morgan type) properties. We
find that, for any particular galaxy luminosity, the ellipticals in the inner
and denser regions of the clusters are about 5% smaller than those in the outer
regions, which is in good agreement with the finding of Strom & Strom (1978)
based on photographic photometry. The null hypothesis (ie., galaxy sizes are
independent of the cluster-centric distance or density) is rejected at a
significance level of better than 99.7%. Numericals models of Aguilar & White
(1986) predict that tidal stripping can lead to changes in the whole structure
of ellipticals producing shrinkage and brightening of the galaxy, qualitatively
consistent with our measurements and also with the findings of Trujillo et al.
(2002), that more centrally concentrated ellipticals populate denser regions.
Our observational results can be interpreted as evidence for stripping of stars
from ellipticals in the central/denser regions of clusters, contributing to the
intra-cluster light observed in these structures.Comment: AJ Accepted, 15 pages, 9 figure
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