The cores of elliptical galaxies

An analysis of the apparent core radii and seeing profiles of seeing-deconvolved high resolution CCD surface photometry profiles for 42 nearby elliptical galaxies indicates that 14 galaxies have resolvable cores between 1.5 and 5.0 arcsec. Half of the resolved galaxies match the core profile of M87...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Astrophysical journal Vol. 292; no. 1; pp. 104 - 121
Main Author Lauer, T. R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Legacy CDMS University of Chicago Press 01.05.1985
Subjects
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Interstellar medium (ism) and nebulae in external galaxies
Stellar systems. Galactic and extragalactic objects and systems. The universe
Photometric observation
Black hole
Elliptical galaxies
Galactic nucleus
Surface brightness
Data table
Structure
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Summary:An analysis of the apparent core radii and seeing profiles of seeing-deconvolved high resolution CCD surface photometry profiles for 42 nearby elliptical galaxies indicates that 14 galaxies have resolvable cores between 1.5 and 5.0 arcsec. Half of the resolved galaxies match the core profile of M87 over an extended radial change, indicating the possible existence of massive nuclear black holes or radially anisotropic velocity fields in these objects. The remaining half show even larger deviations from isothermality. These and other results presented support the formation of elliptical galaxies from photogalactic gas clouds, rather than as products of a dissipationless merger hierarchy or repeated cannibalization of less massive stellar systems.
Bibliography:CDMS
Legacy CDMS
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/163136