Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics in the Peculiar Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4550

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

We present integrated field spectroscopy of the stellar kinematics in the peculiar edge-on Virgo cluster E7/S0 galaxy NGC 4550, which has been widely noted for its cospatial counterrotating stellar components. While the line strengths of the 2 counterrotating components are nearly equal along the major axis, as was previously known, our new data from the Densepak Array on the WIYN telescope reveal markedly different spatial distributions for the 2 components. We find that the stellar component with narrower lines has a much smaller vertical scale height, and therefore a much smaller mass, than the stellar component with broader lines. Instead of the previous view of this galaxy as an equal mass merger remnant with little angular momentum, this galaxy is likely an intermediate mass ratio merger remnant with significant angular momentum.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics in the Peculiar Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4550 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics in the Peculiar Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4550, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics in the Peculiar Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4550 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1746494

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.