Did elliptical galaxies form by mergers or by dissipative collapse?

Details Did elliptical galaxies form by mergers or by dissipative collapse? Did elliptical galaxies form by mergers or by dissipative collapse?

Jul 1989

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989apj...342l..63k&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 342, July 15, 1989, p. L63-L66.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

83

Elliptical Galaxies, Galactic Evolution, Astronomical Photometry, Brightness Distribution, Galactic Structure, Gravitational Collapse

Scientific paper

Observed parameter scaling laws show that lower-luminosity ellipticals have higher central densities and smaller core radii; if they formed by mergers, they are very unlike their progenitors. In the extreme case of M32, the central surface brightness is mu0 less than about 12 V mag/sq arcsec and the core radius is r(c) less than about 0.001 kpc, while plausible progenitor disk galaxies have mu0 of about 22 V mag/sq arcsec and r(c) of about 0.5 kpc. M32 must have formed by a dissipative collapse, whether or not a merger was involved. The cooling diagram also shows that low-luminosity ellipticals formed with more dissipation than high-luminosity ellipticals. Thus the merger picture of galalxy formation requires essential aspects of the dissipative collapse picture.

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