Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Mar 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994aj....107..992f&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Journal (ISSN 0004-6256), vol. 107, no. 3, p. 992-1002
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
34
Dispersions, Elliptical Galaxies, Kinematics, Radial Distribution, Stellar Rotation, Velocity Distribution, Data Reduction, Fourier Analysis, Image Intensifiers, Microdensitometers, Photographic Plates, Signal To Noise Ratios, Spectrographs, Telescopes
Scientific paper
Long-slit spectroscopic data for a sample of 12 elliptical galaxies have been analyzed to derive velocity dispersion and rotational velocity profiles. Minor axis profiles are also given for two galaxies, NGC 2768 and IC 1459. These data clearly demonstrate the large range of rotational properties known to exist in luminous elliptical galaxies MB less than or equal to -20 for Hzero = 50 km/sec/Mpc. The spectroscopic data typically have quite high S/N and can be used to derive velocity dispersion and rotation velocity profiles out to radii r approximately re. The mean logarithmic gradient of the velocity dispersion profiles is small; sigma decreases by only 20% for an order of magnitude change in radius from approximately 0.1 to 1 r e. The ellipticals in this sample are also found to have a very small range in their logarithmic gradients. Even though rotation is energetically unimportant, the rotation curves in ellipticals are typically flat at radii larger than 0.2re, and often at radii beyond 0.1re. A spectrum offset from the nucleus of the E6/S0 galaxy NGC 2768 is used to characterize the form of the velocity distribution in this quite flattened galaxy (it decreases rapidly with z). Observations of the gas (from O II) show that there exists a polar gas disk in the inner regions of NGC 2768.
Fried Josef W.
Illingworth Garth D.
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