Testing the gravitational field in elliptical galaxies - NGC 5077

Details Testing the gravitational field in elliptical galaxies - NGC 5077 Testing the gravitational field in elliptical galaxies - NGC 5077

Jun 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991apj...373..369b&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 373, June 1, 1991, p. 369-390.

Other

82

Elliptical Galaxies, Galactic Rotation, Galactic Structure, Gravitational Fields, Astronomical Spectroscopy, H Alpha Line, H I Regions, Mass To Light Ratios, Spectral Emission

Scientific paper

The intrinsic shape and the mass distribution of the underlying galaxy of NGC 5077, a southern elliptical galaxy with a disk of ionized gas along its minor axis, are investigated on the basis of observations of the structure and kinematics of this gas disk. It is shown that it is possible to construct realistic triaxial mass models for early-type galaxies. These models suggest that NGC 5077 has a constant M/L of about 4-5 in solar units throughout the central 5-10 kpc. The velocity fields of the triaxial models offer three advantages: they can explain the observed position angle differnce of 23 degrees between the gas rotation axis and the apparent major axis of the stars as being due to a projection effect; they provide a natural explanation for the observed increase in the gas velocity dispersion in the central 2-3 arcsec; and the associated density distributions have small cores, so they do not require M/L to drop to low values in the center. Equilibrium and polar ring models and other galaxies are discussed as well.

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