Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-09-27
Astrophys.J.664:226-256,2007
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal; 60 pages and 20 postscript figures
Scientific paper
10.1086/519229
We combine the results from several HST investigations of the central structure of early-type galaxies to generate a large sample of parameterized surface photometry. The studies included were those that used the "Nuker law" to characterize the inner light distributions of the galaxies. The sample comprises WFPC1 and WFPC2 V band observations published earlier by our group, R band WFPC2 photometry of Rest et al., NICMOS H band photometry by Ravindranath et al. and Quillen et al., and the BCG WFPC2 I band photometry of Laine et al. The distribution of the logarithmic slopes of the central profiles strongly affirms that the central structure of elliptical galaxies with Mv < -19 is bimodal, based on both parametric and non-parametric analysis. At the HST resolution limit, most galaxies are either power-law systems, which have steep cusps in surface brightness, or core systems, which have shallow cusps interior to a steeper envelope brightness distribution. A rapid transition between the two forms occurs over the luminosity range -22 < Mv < -20, with cores dominating at the highest luminosities, and power-laws at the lowest. There are a few "intermediate" systems that have both cusp slopes and total luminosities that fall within the core/power-law transition, but they are rare and do not fill in the overall bimodal distribution of cusp slopes. These results are inconsistent with the Ferrarese et al. Virgo Cluster Survey (VCS) analysis. However, using galaxies common to the VCS samples, we demonstrate that the VCS models of the cusps are either a poor match to the observations or consist of forms fitted to the galaxy envelopes and extrapolated inward to the HST resolution limit.
Aller Monique C.
Bender Ralf
Dressler Alan
Faber Sandra M.
Filippenko Alexei V.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with HST. VI. Bimodal Central Surface Brightness Profiles 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 The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with HST. VI. Bimodal Central Surface Brightness Profiles, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with HST. VI. Bimodal Central Surface Brightness Profiles will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-531076