Infrared studies of elliptical galaxies. I - an optically selected sample

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Astronomical Photometry, Elliptical Galaxies, Infrared Astronomy, Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars, Cosmic Dust, Galactic Bulge, Galactic Nuclei, Giant Stars, Infrared Spectra, Local Group (Astronomy), M Stars, Near Infrared Radiation, Radio Astronomy, Stellar Evolution

Scientific paper

The nuclei of 65 elliptical galaxies have been observed in the infrared, including the first large set of sensitive measurements of ellipticals at 10 μm. Photospheric emission from the dominant late-type giant population cannot account for the observed 10 μm flux in most galaxies. Multiaperture measurements of M32 at 2 μm and 10 μm show a similar excess over giant photospheric emission. In M32, the excess 10 μm emission follows the spatial distribution of the stars seen at 2 μm. A good match to the 1 - 10 μm colors is obtained by assuming that the infrared light comes from late-type giants with the same luminosity function as observed in the galactic nuclear bulge. A majority of the excess 10 μm radiation plausibly comes from cool and luminous stars with Mbol < -3.6, i.e., stars with an excess due to dust from mass loss on the asymptotic giant branch.

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