Other
Scientific paper
Jul 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992hst..prop.3551i&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #3551
Other
Hst Proposal Id #3551
Scientific paper
The discovery by Franx and Illingworth of a kinematically-distinct stellar com- ponent in the nucleus of the giant radio elliptical IC 1459, and the confirma- tion that such components are quite common, has added a valuable diagnostic tool for understanding the structure and the formation of ellipticals. Fifteen examples are now known, from a sample of 77 ellipticals. The angular momenta of the distinct components are anti-parallel, perpendicular, or parallel to the angular momenta of the outer parts. These substantial (10^10 solar masses for IC 1459) components are a valuable diagnostics of the dynamical state of the nuclei of ellipticals. Further study will address their formation by investigating whether these components could be the end result of a 'starburst' event, or of the accretion and settling of a stellar companion, or of the merging of primordial subclumps. We propose to take advantage of the high resolution imaging capability of HST through a PC imaging program of the 7 galaxies that are not part other imaging programs, with the goal of detecting central surface brightness cusps in the central regions of the galaxies with kinematically distinct cores. A comparative study of normal galaxies (observed by other programs) and galaxies with kinematically distinct cores can provide unique information on the formation of these components. These data are an essential complement to an extensive ground-based spectroscopic and CCD imaging survey, and will allow a much better modeling of the spectroscopic data.
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