Related papers: UCDs - more massive than allowed?
We have used the 2dF spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain a complete spectroscopic sample of all objects in the magnitude range, Bj= 16.5 to 19.8, regardless of morphology, in an area centred on the Fornax Cluster of…
Now almost 70 years since its introduction, the effective or half-light radius has become a very popular choice for characterising galaxy size. However, the effective radius measures the concentration of light within galaxies and thus does…
Total mass-to-light ratio M/L_B for S0 - Irr galaxies, where M is the dynamical mass within the optical radius R_25, increases systematically with (B-V)_0 color, but slower than that is predicted by stellar population evolution models. It…
Recent observations have highlighted a significant population of faint but large (r_eff>1.5 kpc) galaxies in the Coma cluster. The origin of these Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs) remains puzzling, as the interpretation of the observational…
We use large-scale cosmological simulations to estimate the mass-to-light ratio of galaxy systems as a function of scale, and compare the results with observations of galaxies, groups, clusters, and superclusters of galaxies. We find…
We recently initiated a search for ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) in the Centaurus galaxy cluster (Mieske et al. 2007), resulting in the discovery of 27 compact objects with -12.2<M_V<-10.9 mag. Our overall survey completeness was…
The detection of stars in the process of being tidally removed from globular clusters and dwarf spheroidals in the Galaxy's halo provides a strong constraint on their mass to light ratios and on the extent of their possible dark matter…
Ultra diffuse galaxies, characterized by their low surface brightness and large physical size, constitute a subclass of dwarf galaxies that challenge our current understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. In this paper, we probe the…
Ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) reveal extreme properties. Here we compile the largest study to date of 85 globular cluster (GC) systems around UDGs in the Coma cluster, using new deep ground-based imaging of the known UDGs and existing…
The properties of Ultra Compact Dwarf (UCD) galaxy candidates in Abell 1689 (z=0.183) are investigated, based on deep high resolution ACS images. A UCD candidate has to be unresolved, have i<28 (M_V<-11.5) mag and satisfy color limits…
Our 2dF Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey (FCSS) and follow-up work in the Virgo Cluster have shown that the cores of both galaxy clusters contain a previously-unknown class of object, ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies. We present high…
We present the first compact stellar systems with luminosities in the range of ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs), discovered in the Antlia galaxy cluster (-10.5 < M_V < -11.6). The magnitude limit between UCDs and globular clusters (CGs) is…
The density profiles of dwarf galaxies are a highly varied set. If the dark matter is an ultra-light particle such as axions, then simulations predict a distinctive and unique profile. If the axion mass is large enough to fit the…
Some Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs) appear to host exceptionally rich globular cluster (GC) systems compared to normal galaxies of the same stellar mass. After re-examing these claims, we focus on a small sample of UDGs from the literature…
We analyze the stellar mass-to-light ratio (M/L) gradients in a large sample of local galaxies taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, spanning a wide range of stellar masses and morphological types. As suggested by the well known…
Under Newtonian gravity total masses for dSph galaxies will scale as $M_{T} \propto R_{e} \sigma^{2}$, with $R_{e}$ the effective radius and $\sigma$ their velocity dispersion. When both of the above quantities are available, the resulting…
Extended stellar clusters with effective radii larger than 10 pc have been found in various environments. Objects with masses comparable to globular clusters (GCs) are called extended clusters (ECs), while objects with masses in the dwarf…
We present interpretations of the line-of-sight velocity distribution of stars in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy in terms of CDM and MOND assuming constant mass-to-light ratio and anisotropy. We estimate the two parameters by fitting the…
The dense central regions of tidally disrupted galaxies can survive as ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs) that hide among the luminous globular clusters (GCs) in the halo of massive galaxies. An exciting confirmation of this model is the detection…
The stellar mass-halo mass relation and the globular cluster (GC) number-halo mass relation are two scaling relations that relate fundamental properties of normal galaxies. Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs), some of which, have rich GC systems…