Elliptical galaxy masses out to five effective radii: the realm of dark matter

Details Elliptical galaxy masses out to five effective radii: the realm of dark matter Elliptical galaxy masses out to five effective radii: the realm of dark matter

2011-10-04

arxiv.org/abs/1110.0833v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

11 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication by ApJ

Scientific paper

We estimate the masses of elliptical galaxies out to five effective radii using planetary nebulae and globular clusters as tracers. A sample of 15 elliptical galaxies with a broad variation in mass is compiled from the literature. A distribution function-maximum likelihood analysis is used to estimate the overall potential slope, normalisation and velocity anisotropy of the tracers. We assume power-law profiles for the potential and tracer density and a constant velocity anisotropy. The derived potential power-law indices lie in between the isothermal and Keplerian regime and vary with mass: there is tentative evidence that the less massive galaxies have steeper potential profiles than the more massive galaxies. We use stellar mass-to-light ratios appropriate for either a Chabrier/KTG (Kroupa, Tout & Gilmore) or Salpeter initial mass function to disentangle the stellar and dark matter components. The fraction of dark matter within five effective radii increases with mass, in agreement with several other studies. We employ simple models to show that a combination of star formation efficiency and baryon extent are able to account for this trend. These models are in good agreement with both our measurements out to five effective radii and recent SLACS measurements within one effective radii when a universal Chabrier/KTG initial mass function is adopted.

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