Stellar Dynamics of Radio Elliptical Galaxies

Dynamics of elliptical galaxies.

Elliptical galaxies were once thought to be similar in their structure and dynamics to rotationally flattened bodies like stars. The discovery that elliptical galaxies rotate much more slowly than a fluid body with the same shape has led to a qualitative change in our understanding of the dynamics of these systems. It is now believed that elliptical galaxies are fully triaxial in shape. Self-co...

Constructing Stellar Dynamic Models for Elliptical Galaxies

Large stellar disks in small elliptical galaxies

We present the rotation velocities V and velocity dispersions σ along the principal axes of seven elliptical galaxies less luminous than MB = −19.5. These kinematics extend beyond the half-light radii for all systems in this photometrically selected sample. At large radii the kinematics not only confirm that rotation and “diskiness” are important in faint ellipticals, as was previously known, b...

Stellar Populations of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies: Ubvri Photometry of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster

We present UBVRI surface photometry for 16 dwarf elliptical galaxies in the Virgo Cluster with previously measured kinematic properties. The global optical colors are red, with median values for the sample of 0.24 ± 0.03 in (U–B), 0.77 ± 0.02 in (B– V), and 1.02 ± 0.03 in (V–I). We recover the well known color-magnitude relation for cluster galaxies, but find no significant difference in domina...

Radio Mode Outbursts in Giant Elliptical Galaxies

Outbursts from active galactic nuclei (AGN) affect the hot atmospheres of isolated giant elliptical galaxies (gE’s), as well as those in groups and clusters of galaxies. Chandra observations of a sample of nearby gE’s show that the average power of AGN outbursts is sufficient to stop their hot atmospheres from cooling and forming stars, consistent with radio mode feedback models. The outbursts ...