Explorations of Intracluster Starlight Kinematics with VIRUS-P

Details Explorations of Intracluster Starlight Kinematics with VIRUS-P Explorations of Intracluster Starlight Kinematics with VIRUS-P

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.1122m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #11.22; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.747

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Scientific paper

We have obtained deep integral field spectroscopy taken of 5 elliptical galaxies with the VIRUS-P instrument on the 2.7m telescope at McDonald Observatory. VIRUS-P is an integral field spectrograph consisting of 244 fibers, each 13.5 square arcseconds on the sky. These data generally reach out to 4 Re. Four of the five observed galaxies are brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) while the fifth is the E3 field galaxy NGC 1600. Due to the 2-D nature of integral field spectroscopy and the large field of view of VIRUS-P, spectra of several companion galaxies are included in these observations.
Axisymmetric modeling based upon the orbit superposition method developed by Schwarzschild is used to explore dark halo parameters as well as establish stellar mass to light ratios. These models are the most general possible for an axisymmetric system and therefore allow us to break the degeneracy between dark halo, stellar M/L, orbital anisotropy, and black hole. A second question we address with these data concerns the formation history of BCGs. A BCG's extended stellar halo marks these galaxies as distinct from other giant ellipticals and is evidence for a unique formation history. Analysis of the galaxy's kinematic map will help to answer the question of whether a BCG's extended stellar halo formed during initial collapse or is a result of galactic cannibalism.
VIRUS-P has been made possible by a generous donation from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation.

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