Document Type
Article
Publication Date
September 2017
Publication Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume
470
Issue Number
2
First Page
1321
Last Page
1328
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stx1348
Keywords
galaxies: elliptical and lenticular: cD, galaxies: individual: NGC 821; NGC 3377; NGC 4278; NGC 4473, galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
Disciplines
External Galaxies | Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy
Abstract
We present radial tracks for four early-type galaxies with embedded intermediate-scale discs in a modified spin-ellipticity diagram. Here, each galaxy's spin and ellipticity profiles are shown as a radial track, as opposed to a single, flux-weighted aperture-dependent value as is common in the literature. The use of a single ellipticity and spin parameter is inadequate to capture the basic nature of these galaxies, which transition from fast to slow rotation as one moves to larger radii where the disc ceases to dominate. After peaking, the four galaxy's radial tracks feature a downturn in both ellipticity and spin with increasing radius, differentiating them from elliptical galaxies, and from lenticular galaxies whose discs dominate at large radii. These galaxies are examples of so-called discy elliptical galaxies, which are a morphological hybrid between elliptical (E) and lenticular (S0) galaxies and have been designated ES galaxies. The use of spin-ellipticity tracks provides extra structural information about individual galaxies over a single aperture measure. Such tracks provide a key diagnostic for classifying early-type galaxies, particularly in the era of 2D kinematic (and photometric) data beyond one effective radius.
Recommended Citation
Sabine Bellstedt, Alister Graham, Duncan Forbes, Aaron Romanowsky, Jean Brodie, and Jay Strader. "The SLUGGS Survey: trails of SLUGGS galaxies in a modified spin-ellipticity diagram" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2017): 1321-1328. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1348
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/stx1348
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