Related papers: Dissipation and Extra Light in Galactic Nuclei: II…
We analyze the fundamental plane projections of elliptical galaxies as a function of luminosity, using a sample of approximately 80,000 galaxies drawn from Data Release 4 (DR4) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We separate brightest…
Motivated by recent developments in our understanding of the formation and evolution of massive galaxies, we explore the detailed photometric structure of a representative sample of 94 bright, nearby elliptical galaxies, using high-quality…
Many studies and simulations suggest gas-rich mergers do not contribute significantly to the overall star-formation rate and total mass function of galaxies. The velocity dispersions (sigma) of Luminous & Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies…
We begin by presenting the analysis of a set of deep B- and V-band images of the central density cusp of the globular cluster M30 (NGC 7099), taken with the Faint Object Camera aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. These images are the first…
By means of N-body/SPH simulations we investigate the morphological properties of thick disks formed through minor mergers. We show that the vertical surface density profile of the post-merger thick disk follows a sech function and has an…
A large fraction of the luminous distant submm-wave galaxies recently detected using SCUBA on the JCMT appear to be associated with interacting optical counterparts. We investigate these systems using a simple hierarchical clustering model…
We consider the hypothesis that the formation of elliptical galaxies includes a phase in which star formation is mostly restricted to massive stars, with the bias towards high mass stars increasing with elliptical galaxy mass. The mass…
We present preliminary results of an HST/NICMOS program to image merger remnants in the J, H and K bands. The nuclear brightness profiles for most sample galaxies are similar to those typical for elliptical galaxies, but some (including the…
Early-type galaxies exhibit thermal and molecular resonance emission from dust that is shed and heated through stellar mass loss as a subset of the population moves through the AGB phase of evolution. Because this emission can give direct…
The formation of elliptical galaxies as a result of the merging of spiral galaxies is discussed. We analyse a large set of numerical N-Body merger simulations which show that major mergers can in principle explain the observed isophotal…
A review of the present observational and theoretical status of elliptical galaxies is presented with the aim to clarify whether the monolithic or the hierarchical, is a more viable scenario for the origin of these structures. We describe…
Many recent observations and numerical simulations suggest that nearby massive, early-type galaxies were formed through a "two-phase" process. In the proposed second phase, the extended stellar envelope was accumulated through many dry…
In colour-magnitude diagrams most galaxies fall in either the ``blue cloud'' or the ``red sequence'', with the red sequence extending to significantly brighter magnitudes than the blue cloud. The bright-end of the red sequence comprises…
Several recent observations suggest that gas-poor (dissipationless) mergers of elliptical galaxies contribute significantly to the build-up of the massive end of the red sequence. We perform a series of major merger simulations to…
In hierarchical models of galaxy formation, ellipticals form from the merging of disk galaxies drawn together by gravity as their surrounding dark halos coalesce. Using semi-analytic techniques, we are able to follow the merging, star…
The diffuse starlight extending throughout massive galaxy clusters, known as intracluster light (ICL), has the potential to be read as a memoir of mass accretion: informative, individual, and yet imperfect. Here, we combine dark matter-only…
We address the question of how well the density profile of galaxy clusters can be determined by combining strong lensing and velocity dispersion data. We use cosmological dark matter simulations of clusters to test the reliability of the…
We derive composite luminosity functions (LF) for galaxies in groups and examine the behaviour of the LF as a function of group luminosity (used as an indicator of group or halo mass). We consider both the entire galaxy population and split…
The effects of late gas accretion episodes and subsequent merger-induced starbursts on the photo-chemical evolution of elliptical galaxies are studied and compared to the picture of galaxy formation occurring at high redshift with an unique…
We present a statistical analysis of the properties of a large sample of dynamically hot old stellar systems, from globular clusters to giant ellipticals, which was performed in order to investigate the origin of ultra-compact dwarf…