Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002a%26at...21...79c&link_type=abstract
Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, vol. 21, Issue 1, p.79-93
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
3
Scientific paper
Low energy collisions are the most frequent, and are characterized by high eccentricities. The orbital trends of such collisions are now studied and the order of magnitude of their frequency is determined. Results support the analytical results of a previous paper that the eccentric orbit is a preferred state, and indicate that the system tends to maintain that state. The merger theory, in its extreme form, postulates that the ellipticals are the product of mergers of spirals. The frequency of the most frequent collisions is found to be extremely low to account for the formation of ellipticals. Results favor the traditional view of the formation of ellipticals by gravitational contraction (involving a single burst of star formation at a high redshift followed by passive evolution) and indicate that the merger process seems to be a sporadic one.
Chatterjee Tapan K.
Magalinsky V. B.
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