Continuum observations at 350um are presented of seven nearby elliptical galaxies, for which CO-gas disks have recently been resolved with interferometry mapping. These SHARCII mapping results provide the first clearly resolved far-infrared(FIR) to submillimeter(submm) continuum emission from cold dust (with temperatures 32K > T > 22K) of any elliptical galaxy at a distance >40Mpc. The measured FIR excess shows that the most likely and dominant heating source of this dust is not dilute stellar radiation or cooling flows, but rather star-formation, that could have been triggered by an accretion or merger event and fueled by dust-rich material that has settled in a dense region co-spatial with the central CO-gas disks. The dust is detected even in two cluster ellipticals that are deficient in HI, showing that, unlike the HI, cold dust and CO in ellipticals can survive in the presence of hot X-ray gas, even in galaxy clusters. No dust cooler than 20K, either distributed outside the CO disks, or co-spatial with and heated by the entire dilute stellar optical galaxy (or very extended HI), is currently evident.
Elliptical galaxies outside dense clusters are observed to contain small amounts (relative to spiral galaxies) of cold interstellar gas. This review discusses the atomic gas, the molecular gas, and the dust in elliptical galaxies. Field elliptical galaxies contain about 0.01 to 0.1 of the cold interstellar matter content of spiral galaxies of similar luminosity, and support a low level of star formation. The surface densities of cold gas clouds in the centers of some elliptical galaxies are comparable to those in the densest regions of the Galactic disk. These observations suggest that ellipti…
This work presents high $S/N$ spectroscopic observations of a representative sample of nearby elliptical galaxies. These observations provide a strong test of models for the formation of elliptical galaxies and their star formation histories. Combining these data with the Gonzalez (1993) data set, a volume limited sample of 45 galaxies has been defined. Results are in agreement with previous studies: the existence of the metallicity hyper-plane and the Z-plane of Trager et al. (2000) is confirmed, and the distribution is clearly due to physical variations in stellar population parameters and n…
The potential of the Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) method to determine distances to dwarf ellipticals in nearby clusters is investigated. We find that for the Fornax cluster, the SBF method yields reliable results down to very faint magnitudes, in our case down to M_V ~- 11 mag when observing for about 1 hour at good seeing with an 8m-class telescope in the I-filter. Comparison between real and simulated data for the Centaurus Cluster shows that our simulations do not overestimate the achievable S/N of the SBF method.
We explore the evolution of the cold gas (molecular and neutral hydrogen) of elliptical galaxies and merger remnants ordered into a time sequence on the basis of spectroscopic age estimates. We find that the fraction of cold gas in early merger remnants decreases significantly for ~1-2 Gyr, but subsequent evolution toward evolved elliptical systems sees very little change. This trend can be attributed to an initial gas depletion by strong star-formation which subsequently declines to quiescent rates. This explanation is consistent with the merger picture for the formation of elliptical galaxie…
This work presents high $S/N$ spectroscopic observations of a sample of six suspected merger remnants, selected primarily on the basis of H{\sc i} tidal debris detections. Single stellar population analysis of these galaxies indicates that their ages, metallicities, and $α$-enhancement ratios are consistent with those of a representative sample of nearby elliptical galaxies. The expected stellar population of a recent merger remnant, young age combined with low [$α$/Fe], is not seen in any H{\sc i}-selected galaxy. However, one galaxy (NGC~2534), is found to deviate from the $Z$-plane in the s…
We have observed a complete sample of 21 nearby (D < 70h^{-1} Mpc) Fanaroff & Riley Type I galaxies with HST/WFPC2 and detected dust disks and lanes in 19 of them. The radio jets are roughly perpendicular to the dust which is used to constrain the Doppler boosting factors of the radio jet and cores. The VLBA core flux correlates with the central Halpha+[NII] flux which might indicate that the VLBA core is dominated by an isotropic component. Twelve galaxies show nuclear optical sources. We discuss various possible origins for this emission.
We use a set of high-resolution N-body simulations of binary galaxy mergers to show that the morphologies of the tidal features that are seen around a large fraction of nearby, massive ellipticals in the field, cannot be reproduced by equal-mass dissipationless mergers; rather, they are well explained by the accretion of disk-dominated galaxies. In particular, the arm- and looplike morphologies of the observed tidal debris can only be produced by the kinematically cold material of the disk components of the accreted galaxies. The tidal features that arise from such "cold-accretion" events onto…
Recently it has been suggested that the hard x-ray power-law tails exhibited in the ASCA spectra of several nearby giant elliptical galaxies are caused by low-radiative efficiency accretion flows (ADAFs) onto a massive black hole in the centers of the galaxies. The estimated fluxes from these central ADAFs as derived from the ASCA x-ray spectral analyses indicate that they may be visible as x-ray point sources. We analyze archival ROSAT HRI images of three such galaxies, NGCs 1399, 4636, and 4696, to determine whether point x-ray sources consistent with ASCA-derived fluxes are present in the c…
In order to constrain parameters in galaxy formation theories, especially those for a star formation process, we investigate cold gas in elliptical galaxies. We calculate the detection rate of cold gas in them using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation and compare it with observations. We show that the model with a long star formation time-scale (~20 Gyr) is inconsistent with observations. Thus, some mechanisms of reducing the mass of interstellar medium, such as the consumption of molecular gas by star formation and/or reheating from supernovae, are certainly effective in galaxies. Our m…
We study the morphology-radius (MR-) and morphology-density (MD-) relations for a sample of about 850 galaxies (with M <= -19.5) in 23 clusters from the ENACS (ESO Nearby Abell Cluster Survey). On the basis of their radial distributions we must distinguish: 1. brightest ellipticals (with M < -22), 2. late spirals, and 3. the ensemble of less bright ellipticals, S0 galaxies and early spirals. The latter have indistinguishable distributions of projected radial distance R. The brightest ellipticals are most centrally concentrated, the late spirals are almost absent from the central regions and th…
We report on mid- and far-IR Spitzer observations of 7 nearby dusty elliptical galaxies by using the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) and Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). Our sample galaxies are known to contain an excessive amount of interstellar dust against sputtering destruction in hot plasma filling the interstellar space of elliptical galaxies. In order to study the origin and the properties of the excess dust in the hot plasma, we selected galaxies with a wide range of X-ray luminosities but similar optical luminos ities for our Spitzer Guest Observers (GO1) program. The 7 galaxies are d…
The predicted radio flux for nearby ellipticals by the canonical ADAF(advection-dominated accretion flow) model is well above the observations. If the mass accretion rate favored by the numerical simulation were adopted, the ADAF model would also significantly overpredict the radio flux of Sgr A*. On the observational side, strong evidence for the existence of jets in Sgr A$^*$ and these ellipticals has been obtained. Based on these facts, we propose a truncated ADAF model for these sources. We assume that the accretion disk is truncated at a certain radius within which a jet forms by extracti…
We have used the adaptive optics system on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope to study a field 6 arcmin from the center of the heavily obscured elliptical galaxy Maffei 1. Our near diffraction-limited H and K' images reveal an excess population of objects with respect to a background field, and we conclude that the asymptotic giant branch tip (AGB-tip) in Maffei 1 occurs at K = 20 +/- 0.25. Assuming that stars at the AGB-tip in Maffei 1 have the same intrinsic luminosity as those in the bulge of M31, then the actual distance modulus of Maffei 1 is 28.2 +/- 0.3 if A_V = 5.1, which corresponds t…
We present results from two mid-infrared imaging programs of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and fine-structure elliptical galaxies. The former are known to nearly all be recent mergers between two gas-rich spiral galaxies, while the latter are also believed to be even more aged merger remnants. An examination of these two classes of objects, which may represent different stages of the same putative merger sequence, should reveal similarities in the distribution of their stellar populations and dust content consistent with that expected for time-evolution of the merger. The data revea…
Many nearby early-type (elliptical and S0) galaxies contain weak (milli-Jansky level) nuclear radio sources on scales a few hundred parsecs or less. The origin of the radio emission, however, has remained unclear, especially in volume-limited samples that select intrinsically less luminous galaxies. Both active galactic nuclei and nuclear star formation have been suggested as possible mechanisms for producing the radio emission. This paper utilizes optical spectroscopic information to address this issue. A substantial fraction of the early-type galaxies surveyed with the Very Large Array by Wr…
K-band spectroscopic observations recorded with NIFS+ALTAIR on Gemini North are used to probe the central arcsec of the compact elliptical galaxies NGC 4486B, NGC 5846A, and M32. The angular resolution of these data is ~0.1 arcsec FWHM. The central stellar contents of NGC 4486B and NGC 5846A are similar, in the sense that they occupy the same regions of the (Ca I, 12CO), (Na I, 12CO) and (13CO, 12CO) diagrams. The NGC 4486B and NGC 5846A observations depart from the sequence defined by solar neighborhood giants in the (Na I, 12CO) diagram, in a sense that is consistent with both galaxies havin…
Present knowledge of the distribution of the angle between major optical and radio axes of early-type galaxies is reviewed. While brightest galaxies in Abell clusters show a bimodal distribution of this angle, with both parallel and vertical alignment, ellipticals in general only show a weak preference for vertical alignment. Current plans are outlined to homogenize and largely increase these samples using literature data together with digitized optical Sky Surveys and the ongoing new radio surveys. The results will shed light on both the dynamics of nearby ellipticals, as well as on a possibl…
We explore the implications of the discovery of hard, power-law X-ray sources in the spectra of nearby elliptical galaxies for the origin of the X-ray background. The spectra of these sources are consistent with models of thermal bremsstrahlung emission from low radiative efficiency accretion flows around central supermassive black holes and are unique in that they approximately match that of the hard XRB. If such sources, with luminosities consistent with those observed in nearby ellipticals, are present in most early-type galaxies, then their integrated emission may contribute significantly …
Spectral energy distribution (SED) analyses, that include new millimeter (mm) to far-infrared (FIR) observations, obtained with continuum instruments on the Nobeyama and James Clerk Maxwell Telescopes and Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), are presented for seven, nearby (< 45Mpc) FIR-bright elliptical galaxies. These are analyzed together with archival FIR and short-wave radio data obtained from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED). The radio to infrared SEDs are best fit by power-law plus greybody models of dust residing in the central galactic regions within 2.4kpc diameter and with te…
Powerful radio-AGN are hosted by massive elliptical galaxies which are usually very poor in molecular gas. Nevertheless the central Black Hole (BH) needs molecular gas for the nuclear activity. Thus it is important to study the origin, the distribution and the kinematics of the molecular gas in such objects. We have performed at the IRAM-30m telescope a survey of the CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) emission in the most powerful radio galaxies of the Local Universe, selected only on the basis of their radio continuum fluxes. The main result of that survey is the low content in molecular gas of such galaxie…
By means of high-resolution N-body simulations we revisited the dissipationless collapse scenario for galaxy formation. We considered both single-component collapses and collapses of a cold stellar distribution in a live dark matter halo. Single-component collapses lead to stellar systems whose projected profiles are fitted very well by the Sersic R^(1/m) law with 3.6 < m < 8. The stellar end-products of collapses in a dark matter halo are still well described by the R^(1/m) law, but with 1.9 < m < 12, where the lowest m values are obtained when the halo is dominant. In all the explored cases …
The potential of the Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) method to determine the membership of dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) in nearby galaxy clusters is investigated. Extensive simulations for SBF measurements on dEs in the I-band for various combinations of distance modulus, seeing and integration time are presented, based on average VLT FORS1 and FORS2 zero points. These show that for distances up to 20 Mpc (Fornax or Virgo cluster distance), reliable membership determination of dEs can be obtained down to very faint magnitudes -10<M_V<-12 mag (25 mag / arcsec^2) within integration time…
A serious candidate for dark matter in spiral galaxies are cold molecular hydrogen globules with a condensed central core and a disc-like space distribution probably similar to that of neutral hydrogen. This paper shows that the H_2 cores are sufficiently compact and massive to be detected by microlensing in the outer Galactic disc and that the Maffei 1 elliptical galaxy, at a distance of 3 Mpc and Galactic latitude b=-0.6 deg, offers an ideal target for such an experiment. The microlensing optical depth of H_2 cores along the line of sight to this galaxy is estimated to tau~0.7x10^(-6) if mos…
We present the GALEX UV photometry of the elliptical galaxies in Abell clusters at moderate redshifts (z < 0.2) for the study of the look-back time evolution of the UV upturn phenomenon. The brightest elliptical galaxies (M_r < -22) in 12 remote clusters are compared with the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity in the Fornax and Virgo clusters. The sample galaxies presented here appear to be quiescent without signs of massive star formation or strong nuclear activity, and show smooth, extended profiles in their UV images indicating that the far-UV (FUV) light is m…
We report $^{12}$CO($J=$3--2) observations of 15 nearby elliptical galaxies carried out with the ASTE telescope. Thirteen were selected without regard to the presence of other tracers of cold interstellar matter. CO emission was detected from three of the galaxies, two of which are undetected by IRAS at 100 microns, suggesting that cold ISM may be present in more ellipticals than previously thought. The molecular gas masses range from $2.2 \times 10^6$ to $4.3 \times 10^8$ $M_\odot$. The ratio of the CO(3--2) and (1--0) lines, $R_{31}$, has a lower value for elliptical galaxies than for spiral…
We present narrow band data on dwarf ellipticals in nearby (Virgo, Fornax) and intermediate redshift clusters (A2125, A2218) in order to study their mean age and metallicities. In all four clusters, nucleated dwarf ellipticals display colors that place them on the high metallicity end of the Milky Way globular cluster sequence. Normal dwarf ellipticals display colors, and resulting metallicities and ages, that align them with bright ellipticals. This suggests that dE,N's may be the ancestors to the red GC population found around many elliptical galaxies.
Detailed 3-D numerical simulations of an elliptical galaxy orbiting in a gas-rich cluster of galaxies indicate that gas dynamic stripping is less efficient than the results from previous, simpler calculations (Takeda et al. 1984; Gaetz et al. 1987) implied. This result is consistent with X-ray data for cluster elliptical galaxies. Hydrodynamic torques and direct accretion of orbital angular momentum can result in the formation of a cold gaseous disk, even in a non-rotating galaxy. The gas lost by cluster galaxies via the process of gas dynamic stripping tends to produce a colder, chemically en…
Observations with the Wide-Field Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope are presented for a representative sample of 20 intrinsically luminous quasars with redshifts smaller than 0.30. These observations show that luminous quasars occur in diverse environments that include ellipticals as bright as the brightest cluster galaxies (2), apparently normal ellipticals (10), apparently normal spirals with H II regions (3), complex systems of gravitationally interacting components (3), and faint surrounding nebulosity (2). The quasar host galaxies are centered on the quasar to the accuracy of our measur…
We study the stellar and dust properties of a well-defined sample of local elliptical galaxies to investigate the relationship between host galaxy properties and nuclear activity. We select a complete sample of 45 ellipticals from the Palomar spectroscopic survey of nearby galaxies, which includes 20 low-luminosity active galactic nuclei classified as LINERs and 25 inactive galaxies. Using a stellar population synthesis method, we compare the derived stellar population properties of the LINER versus the inactive subsamples. We also study the dust and stellar surface brightness distributions of…
(Abridged) We present deep WSRT observations of neutral hydrogen in 12 nearby elliptical and lenticular galaxies. The selected objects come from a representative sample of nearby galaxies earlier studied at optical wavelengths with the integral-field spectrograph Sauron. We detect HI - both in regular discs as well as in clouds and tails off-set from the host galaxy - in 70% of the galaxies. This detection rate is much higher than in previous, shallower single-dish surveys, and is similar to that for the ionised gas. The results suggest that at faint detection levels the presence of HI is a re…
Recent results from gravitational lensing are combined with new modeling of the stellar velocity distributions in nearby galaxies to probe the connection between the luminous and the dark matter in elliptical galaxies. From analysing a small number of luminous ellipticals the following picture appears to emerge: (1) the best fitting total mass distribution (luminous and dark) leads to a flat rotation curve (v2=RdPhi/dR) from 0.3 to >= 3 effective radii; (2) half the total mass inside the effective radius (~3kpc) may already be dark, and (3) ellipticals reside in much denser halos than spiral g…
We present SCUBA imaging and photometry of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4374. The imaging observations are used to examine the spatial distribution of thermal emission from dust and the radio to infrared continuum spectrum. In the SCUBA 850 um image, the galaxy is found to be a point source, constraining the emission to less than 15'' (1.5 kpc for a distance of 20.74 Mpc). The simplest interpretation is that the 2000 um to 850 um SCUBA emission is synchroton from a compact core or inner-jet, and most unlikely thermal emission from cold diffuse dust. We cannot exclude free-free emission, but this …
The ``UV upturn'' is a sharp rise in spectra of elliptical galaxies shortward of rest-frame 2500 A. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nearby giant elliptical galaxies, and is thought to arise primarily from low-mass evolved stars on the extreme horizontal branch and beyond. Models suggest that the UV upturn is a very strong function of age for these old stellar populations, increasing as the galaxy gets older. In some models the change in UV/optical flux ratio is a factor of 25 over timescales of less than 3 Gyr. To test the predictions for rapid evolution of the UV upturn, we have observed a s…
Using the surface photometric analysis data for a well defined sample of 79 nearby radio galaxies (z < 0.12), it is shown that the level of radio emission associated with an elliptical galaxy during the radio-loud phase is related to the presence of large amounts of isophotal twist in its optical image. In particular, radio galaxies with P_408 > 3 x 10^{25} W/Hz appear to show a preference to be associated with elliptical hosts exhibiting an isophotal twist in excess of ~20 degrees.
The high-latitude Galactic H I cloud toward the extragalactic radio source 3C 225 is characterized by very narrow 21 cm emission and absorption indicative of a very low H I spin temperature of about 20 K. Through high-resolution optical spectroscopy, we report the detection of strong, very narrow Na I absorption corresponding to this cloud toward a number of nearby stars. Assuming that the turbulent H I and Na I motions are similar, we derive a cloud temperature of 20 (+6, -8) K (in complete agreement with the 21 cm results) and a line-of-sight turbulent velocity of 0.37+/-0.08 km/s from a com…
Neutral hydrogen is an important component of the interstellar medium in elliptical galaxies as well as a potentially valuable mass tracer. Until recently, HI surveys of early-type galaxies have been sparse and inhomogeneous but this has changed with the advent of the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey (HIPASS; Barnes et al. 2001). We discuss HIPASS observations of a sample of ~2500 nearby E/S0 galaxies, as well as detailed HI imaging of a range of individual objects.
We have used GADGET2 to simulate the formation of an elliptical galaxy in a cosmological dark matter halo with mass 3x10^12M_Sun/h. Using a stellar population synthesis model has allowed us to compute magnitudes, colours and surface brightness profiles. We have included a model to follow the growth of a central black hole and we have compared the results of simulations with and without feedback from AGNs. We have studied the interplay between cold gas accretion and merging in the development of galactic morphologies, the link between colour and morphology evolution, the effect of AGN feedback …
Dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies, with blue absolute magnitudes typically fainter than $M_B = -16$, are the most numerous type of galaxy in the nearby universe. Tremendous advances have been made over the past several years in delineating the properties of both Local Group satellite dE's and the large dE populations of nearby clusters. We review some of these advances, with particular attention to how well currently available data can constrain 1) models for the formation of dE's, 2) the physical and evolutionary connections between different types of galaxies (nucleated and nonnucleated dE's, c…
We review the origin, evolution and physical nature of hot gas in elliptical galaxies and associated galaxy groups. Unanticipated recent X-ray observations with Chandra and XMM indicate much less cooling than previously expected. Consequently, many long-held assumptions need to be reexamined or discarded and new approaches must be explored. Chief among these are the role of heating by active galactic nuclei, the influence of radio lobes on the hot gas, details of the cooling process, possible relation between the hot and colder gas in elliptical galaxies, and the complexities of stellar enrich…
We obtained B and R-band CCD images for the dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies DDO44, UGC4998, KK98_77, DDO71, DDO113, and UGC7356 at the NOT. Using Fourier analysis technique we measure stellar R-band surface brightness fluctuations (SBFs) and magnitudes in 29 different fields of the galaxies. Independent tip of the red giant branch distances for DDO44, KK98_77, DDO71 are used to convert their set of apparent into absolute SBF magnitudes. The results are combined with the local (B-R) colours and compared with the (B-R)-\bar{M}_R relation for mainly old, metal-poor stellar populations as predicted…
We describe the evolution of hot interstellar gas in a family of low luminosity elliptical galaxies all having $M_B = -20$ but with different degrees of flattening (E0, E2, and E6) caused by rotation. The interstellar gas is furnished by stellar mass loss. The soft X-ray luminosity Lx of the hot interstellar gas after 15 Gyrs decreases dramatically with galactic rotation. The hot gas cools onto a large disk having a size that depends inversely on the assumed supernova rate. Although Lx of the hot, rotating interstellar gas may be difficult to observe, the photoionized part of the cooled gaseou…
We have found compact X-ray sources in the center of 21 (54%) of 39 nearby face-on spiral and elliptical galaxies with available ROSAT HRI data. ROSAT X-ray luminosities (0.2 - 2.4 keV) of these compact X-ray sources are ~ 1e37 - 1e40 erg/s (with a mean of 3e39 erg/s. The mean displacement between the location of the compact X-ray source and the optical photometric center of the galaxy is ~ 390 pc. The fact that compact nuclear sources were found in nearly all (five of six) galaxies with previous evidence for a black hole or an AGN indicates that at least some of the X-ray sources are accretin…
We present a model to investigate the formation and evolution of cluster galaxies using cosmological N-body simulations. The N-body simulations are used to make merging history trees of dark halos. Gas cooling, star formation, supernova feedback and mergers of galaxies within dark halos are included by using simple prescriptions taken from semi-analytic models of galaxy formation. In this {\it Letter} we exam the merger-driven bulge formation model and represent the morphology-density relation of cluster galaxies at z = 0. We find that this morphological evolution model can explain the distrib…
We determine the mass profile of an ensemble cluster built from 3056 galaxies in 59 nearby clusters observed in the ESO Nearby Abell Cluster Survey. The mass profile is derived from the distribution and kinematics of the Early-type (elliptical and S0) galaxies only, which are most likely to meet the conditions for the application of the Jeans equation. We assume that the Early-type galaxies have isotropic orbits, as supported by the shape of their velocity distribution. The brightest ellipticals (with M_R < -22+5 log h), and the Early-type galaxies in subclusters are excluded from the sample. …
We study the effect of active galactic nuclei (AGN) heating on the chemodynamical evolution of elliptical galaxies and their X-ray and optical properties using high-resolution Lambda-dominated cold dark matter cosmological simulations. Our model considers an AGN as being ``active'' when a convergent gas inflow condition exists within a galaxy's nucleus; otherwise, the AGN is assumed to remain dormant. This induces a self-regulated activity for the AGN, the result of which leads to a stable hot corona and the suppression of significant late-time star formation - characteristics not encountered …
The halo masses of nearby individual elliptical galaxies can be estimated by using the kinematics of their stars, planetary nebulae, and globular clusters -- ideally in combination. With currently improving coverage of galaxies of ordinary luminosities and morphologies, systematic trends may be identified. Bright, boxy ellipticals show strong signatures of dark matter, while faint, disky ones typically do not. The former result is problematic for the MOND theory of gravity, and the latter is a challenge to explain in the LCDM paradigm of galaxy formation.
Luminous elliptical galaxies generally display a rich star cluster system, whose properties provide strong constraints on the physics of galaxy formation and evolution. Star cluster system studies, however, concentrate on galaxies located in nearby or rich galaxy clusters. We acquired deep B and I images of NGC 1600, a luminous elliptical in a galaxy group to study its star cluster system. The images were obtained with the Optical Imager at the SOAR telescope. The sample selection incompleteness was assessed as a function of magnitude and image background level. Source counts were measured for…
We present images, integrated photometry, surface-brightness and color profiles for a total of 1034 nearby galaxies recently observed by the GALEX satellite in its far-ultraviolet (FUV; 1516A) and near-ultraviolet (NUV; 2267A) bands. (...) This data set has been complemented with archival optical, near-infrared, and far-infrared fluxes and colors. We find that the integrated (FUV-K) color provides robust discrimination between elliptical and spiral/irregular galaxies and also among spiral galaxies of different sub-types. Elliptical galaxies with brighter K-band luminosities (i.e. more massive)…
We present a combined optical and X-ray analysis of three optically selected X-ray bright groups with giant elliptical galaxies in the center. These massive ellipticals were targeted for XMM-Newton X-ray observations based on their large velocity dispersions and their proximity to a nearby ROSAT X-ray source. Additionally, these targets are significantly brighter in the optical than their nearest neighbors. We show that one of these systems meets the standard criteria for a fossil group. While the other two systems have a prominent magnitude gap in the E/S0 ridgeline, they do not appear to hav…
In these lectures I present a highly opinionated review of the observed patterns of metallicity and element abundance ratios in nearby spiral, irregular, and dwarf elliptical galaxies, with connection to a number of astrophysical issues associated with chemical evolution. I also discuss some of the observational and theoretical issues associated with measuring abundances in H II regions and gas and stellar surface densities in disk galaxies. Finally, I will outline a few open questions that deserve attention in future investigations.
The temperature of hot interstellar gas at large radii in elliptical galaxies can be lower than the mean galactic virial temperature. If so, a nonlinear cooling wave can form in the hot interstellar gas and propagate slowly toward the galactic core. If the cooling wave survives hydrodynamic instabilities, it can intermittently deposit cold gas within about 15 effective radii. For a bright elliptical the total mass deposited in this manner can approach 10^10 solar masses. The cold gas that drips out at large galactic radii may account for the young stellar populations and extended gas at $\sim …
We investigate how different models that have been proposed for solving the dark matter problem can fit the velocity dispersion observed around elliptical galaxies, on either a small scale (~ 20kpc) with stellar tracers, such as planetary nebulae, or large scale (~ 200kpc) with satellite galaxies as tracers. Predictions of Newtonian gravity, either containing pure baryonic matter, or embedded in massive cold dark matter (CDM) haloes, are compared with predictions of the modified gravity of MOND. The standard CDM model has problems on a small scale, and the Newtonian pure baryonic model has dif…
We present a two-pronged approach to the formation of early-type galaxies, using a sample of 18 galaxies at 0.5 < z < 1 from the HST/ACS Ultra Deep Field and GRAPES surveys: 1) We combine slitless low resolution spectroscopy from the GRAPES dataset with simple models of galaxy formation to explore their star formation histories. 2) We also perform an analysis of their surface brightness distribution with the unprecedented details provided by the ACS superb angular resolution and photometric depth. Our spectroscopic analysis reveals that their stellar populations are rather homogeneous in age a…
We report an ultra-high-resolution simulation that follows evolution from the earliest stages of galaxy formation through the period of dynamical relaxation. The bubble structures of gas revealed in our simulation ($< 3\times 10^8$ years) resemble closely the high-redshift Lyman $α$ emitters (LAEs). After $10^9$ years these bodies are dominated by stellar continuum radiation and look like the Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) known as the high-redshift star-forming galaxies at which point the abundance of elements appears to be solar. After $1.3\times10^{10}$ years, these galaxies resemble present-d…
There is now strong evidence that the metal-rich globular clusters (GC) near the center of our Galaxy are associated with the Galactic bulge rather than the disk as previously thought. Here we extend the concept of bulge GCs to the GC systems of nearby spiral galaxies. In particular, the kinematic and metallicity properties of the GC systems favor a bulge rather than a disk origin. The number of metal-rich GCs normalized by the bulge luminosity is roughly constant (i.e. bulge S_N ~ 1) in nearby spirals, and this value is similar to that for field ellipticals when only the red (metal--rich) GCs…
Growth curves of the near-infrared (NIR) magnitude as a function of the aperture have been built and used to derive NIR total magnitudes from aperture data taken from the literature. By cross-correlating with optical and redshift data, absolute magnitudes and optical-to-NIR colors have been computed for some 1000 galaxies of different types. Significant color gradients are observed, underlining that small aperture colors may lead to a biased picture of the stellar populations of galaxies. A statistical analysis using various estimators taking into account the intrinsic scatter has been perform…
We have found compact, near-nuclear X-ray sources in 21 (54\%) of a complete sample of 39 nearby face-on spiral and elliptical galaxies with available ROSAT HRI data. ROSAT X-ray luminosities (0.2 $-$ 2.4 keV) of these compact X-ray sources are $\sim$10$^{37}$$-$10$^{40}$ erg~s$^{-1}$. The mean displacement between the location of the compact X-ray source and the optical photometric center of the galaxy is $\sim$390 pc. ASCA spectra of six of the 21 galaxies show the presence of a hard component with relatively steep ($Γ\approx$ 2.5) spectral slope. A multicolor disk blackbody plus power-law m…
We analyse the structural and dynamical properties of a sample of 324 nearby elliptical and dwarf elliptical galaxies observed during an extensive NIR survey in H-band (1.65 micron). The Fundamental Plane (FP) is determined and a significant tilt is assessed. The origins of such a tilt are investigated by means of a spherically symmetric, isotropic pressure supported dynamical model relying on the observed surface brightness profiles. The systematic variation of the shape coefficient converting the measured central velocity dispersion $ sigma_0$ into the virial rms velocity $ sigma_{rms}$ is f…
We present 3-band HST imaging of three z</=0.1 compact symmetric objects (CSOs): 4C 31.04, 1946+708 and 1146+596. These objects were chosen on the basis of proximity to Earth as well as HI 21 cm absorption. The inner H-band isophotes of these galaxies are well fit by "nuker" models, typical of nearby ellipticals. Each shows a significant flattening in the isophotal profile at radii ~0.5", as well as variations in ellipticity and PA. However, neither is uncommon for elliptical galaxies. All three show modest departures from nuker models at radii of 1-5 $h_{60}^{-1}$ kpc. Each shows large, well …
We show that the mass function of black holes expected from the past quasar activity (both visible and obscured) is consistent with the number of dormant black holes found in the bulges of nearby galaxies. The joint formation of quasars and bulges is addressed by means of an analytical model for galaxy formation, based on the hierarchical clustering of cold dark matter halos. The model is able to reproduce the main statistical properties of both populations under the hypotheses that (i) star formation and quasar shining follow an anti-hierarchical order, and (ii) galaxy morphology and final bl…
