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arXiv 0809.1327astro-ph
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对M32是M31的一颗致密矮卫星而不是一个更遥远的正常星系的证据的评论

A critical review of the evidence for M32 being a compact dwarf satellite of M31 rather than a more distant normal galaxy

C. K. S. Young, M. J. Currie, R. J. Dickens, A. L. Luo, T. J. Zhang

摘要:

自从巴德在20世纪40年代中期对M32进行摄影研究以来,M32是M31的一颗致密矮卫星已经被公认为一个既定的事实。本文件的目的是报告我们对现有证据性质的调查结果。我们发现M32是M31的一颗卫星,这是基于哈勃空间望远镜(HST)的恒星星族研究,它已经解决了M32以及其他邻近星系中的红巨星分支(RGB)和红丛星。单独来看,这一最新证据可被认为是支持现有观点的决定性证据。然而,传统的假设无法解释M32在矮星系中如此高的中心速度色散(是NGC 147、NGC 185或NGC 205的好几倍),也无法解释现有的行星状星云观测结果(这表明M32的距离是M31的两倍多),而且还需要对M32的紧凑性做出详细的物理解释。相反,我们发现M32是一个正常星系,距离是M31的三倍,这一点得到了以下几点的支持:(1)中间星系典型的中心速度色散,(2)已发表的行星状星云观测结果,以及(3)已知的正常早型星系的标度关系。然而,这种新的情况下,不能解释的高表观光度的RGB恒星解决了在M32方向的HST观测。因此,我们只剩下两种显然不可调和的情况,其中只有一种可能是正确的,但这两种情况都受到相反的潜在致命证据的影响。这表明,目前对某些相关领域的了解还远远不够。

英文摘要:

Since Baade's photographic study of M32 in the mid 1940s, it has been accepted as an established fact that M32 is a compact dwarf satellite of M31. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of our investigation into the nature of the existing evidence. We find that the case for M32 being a satellite of M31 rests upon Hubble Space Telescope (HST) based stellar population studies which have resolved red-giant branch (RGB) and red clump stars in M32 as well as other nearby galaxies. Taken in isolation, this recent evidence could be considered to be conclusive in favour of the existing view. However, the conventional scenario does not explain M32's anomalously high central velocity dispersion for a dwarf galaxy (several times that of either NGC 147, NGC 185 or NGC 205) or existing planetary nebula observations (which suggest that M32 is more than twice as distant as M31) and also requires an elaborate physical explanation for M32's inferred compactness. Conversely, we find that the case for M32 being a normal galaxy, of the order of three times as distant as M31, is supported by: (1) a central velocity dispersion typical of intermediate galaxies, (2) the published planetary nebula observations, and (3) known scaling relationships for normal early-type galaxies. However, this novel scenario cannot account for the high apparent luminosities of the RGB stars resolved in the M32 direction by HST observations. We are therefore left with two apparently irreconcilable scenarios, only one of which can be correct, but both of which suffer from potentially fatal evidence to the contrary. This suggests that current understanding of some relevant fields is still very far from adequate.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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