Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996mnras.282..149r&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 282, Issue 1, pp. 149-156.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
37
Galaxies: Elliptical And Lenticular, Cd, Galaxies: Interactions, Galaxies: Structure
Scientific paper
Fine structure in early-type galaxies is considered to be among the more robust indicators of a past merging or acquisition event, although growing evidence from numerical simulations suggests that fine structure may be also interpreted in a `weak interaction' framework. We present a morphological study of a sample composed of 61 `isolated' early-type galaxies addressed to the detection of fine structure. This sample has been selected in order to be statistically comparable to a set of 54 early-type galaxies, members of pairs analysed by Reduzzi & Rampazzo with a similar technique. The rate of occurrence of fine structure detected in the `isolated' galaxy sample is significantly higher than that found for the pairs. In particular, the fraction of isolated early-type galaxies exhibiting shells is 16.4 per cent, a percentage similar to that found by Malin & Carter for RC2 isolated objects in the southern sky, while the fraction of early-type galaxies in pairs is ~=4 per cent. We discuss the comparison between the two samples in the context of the merger versus the weak interaction origin of fine structures. Concerning the formation of shells, although the merger origin cannot be ruled out, the observed difference is more naturally explained within the weak interaction framework.
Longhetti Marcella
Rampazzo Roberto
Reduzzi Luca
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