Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1998-06-19
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
44 pages, 22 figures (7 as separate JPEG images), submitted to The Astronomical Journal. Full postscript image available at
Scientific paper
10.1086/300617
WFPC-2 images are used to study the central structure of M31, M32, and M33. The dimmer peak, P2, of the M31 double nucleus is centered on the bulge to 0.1", implying that it is the dynamical center of M31. P2 contains a compact source discovered by King et al. (1995) at 1700 A. This source is resolved, with r_{1/2} approx0.2 pc. It dominates the nucleus at 3000 A, and is consistent with late B-early A stars. This probable cluster may consist of young stars and be an older version of the cluster of hot stars at the center of the Milky Way, or it may consist of heavier stars built up from collisions in a possible cold disk of stars orbiting P2. In M32, the central cusp rises into the HST limit with gamma approx0.5, and the central density rho_0>10^7M_sol pc^-3. The V-I and U-V color profiles are flat, and there is no sign of an inner disk, dust, or any other structure. This total lack of features seems at variance with a nominal stellar collision time of 2 X 10^10 yr, which implies that a significant fraction of the light in the central pixel should come from blue stragglers. InM33, the nucleus has an extremely steep gamma=1.49 power-law profile for 0.05"
Ajhar Edward A.
Faber Sandra M.
Grillmair Carl J.
Lauer Tod R.
Scowen Paul A.
No associations
LandOfFree
M32+/-1 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with M32+/-1, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and M32+/-1 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-22755