Document Type

Article

Publication Date

June 2017

Publication Title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

467

Issue Number

4

First Page

4540

Last Page

4557

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stx418

Keywords

galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: kinematics and dynamics

Disciplines

Astrophysics and Astronomy | External Galaxies

Abstract

We utilize the DEIMOS instrument on the Keck telescope to measure the wide-field stellar kinematics of early-type galaxies as part of the SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS (SLUGGS) survey. In this paper, we focus on some of the lowest stellar mass lenticular galaxies within this survey, namely NGC 2549, NGC 4474, NGC 4459 and NGC 7457, performing detailed kinematic analyses out to large radial distances of ∼2–3 effective radii. For NGC 2549, we present the first analysis of data taken with the SuperSKiMS (Stellar Kinematics from Multiple Slits) technique. To better probe kinematic variations in the outskirts of the SLUGGS galaxies, we have defined a local measure of stellar spin. We use this parameter and identify a clear separation in the radial behaviour of stellar spin between lenticular and elliptical galaxies. We compare the kinematic properties of our galaxies with those from various simulated galaxies to extract plausible formation scenarios. By doing this for multiple simulations, we assess the consistency of the theoretical results. Comparisons to binary merger simulations show that low-mass lenticular galaxies generally resemble the spiral progenitors more than the merger remnants themselves, which is an indication that these galaxies are not formed through merger events. We find, however, that recent mergers cannot be ruled out for some lenticular galaxies.

Comments

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2017 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.This article can also be found online at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx418
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