Related papers: A Population of Compact Elliptical Galaxies Detect…
Early-type dwarf galaxies are the most common type of galaxies observed in the Universe. The origin of this kind of systems is still not well understood. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the different locations of dwarf…
We present a two-pronged approach to the formation of early-type galaxies, using a sample of 18 galaxies at 0.5 < z < 1 from the HST/ACS Ultra Deep Field and GRAPES surveys: 1) We combine slitless low resolution spectroscopy from the GRAPES…
The population of compact massive galaxies observed at z > 1 are hypothesised, both observationally and in simulations, to be merger remnants of gas-rich disc galaxies. To probe such a scenario we analyse a sample of 12 gas-rich and active…
Recent deep Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 imaging suggests that a majority of compact quiescent massive galaxies at z~2 may contain disks. To investigate this claim, we have compared the ellipticity distribution of 31 carefully selected…
The ``MORPHS'' group has completed the cataloging, parameterization, and morphological classification of ~2000 galaxies in 10 rich clusters from 0.36 < z < 0.56. From a weak lensing analysis using these data, which compares the X-ray…
Recent progress is summarized on the determination of the density distributions of stars and dark matter, stellar kinematics, and stellar population properties, in the extended, low surface brightness halo regions of elliptical galaxies.…
Systematic studies have revealed hundreds of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) in the nearby Universe. With half-light radii $r_h$ of approximately 10-100 parsecs and stellar masses $M_*$ $\approx$ $10^6-10^8$ solar masses, UCDs are among…
We study the stellar populations of 1,923 elliptical galaxies at z<0.05 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as a function of velocity dispersion, sigma, and environment. We construct average, high signal-to-noise spectra and find the…
Globular clusters are valuable fossil records of the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. The color distribution of elliptical galaxy globular cluster systems indicates an episodic formation history, consistent with a merger…
Compact elliptical (cE) galaxies are compact stellar systems with stellar masses of $10^8 \leq M_*/M_\odot \leq 10^{10}$ and radii typically < 0.6 kpc. Here we investigate the properties of 13 cE galaxies in the Coma cluster, six newly…
With the aid of simple numerical models, we discuss a particular aspect of the interaction between stellar orbital periods inside elliptical galaxies (Es) and the parent cluster tidal field (CTF), i.e., the possibility that collisionless…
Galaxies can be classified in two broad sequences which are likely to reflect their formation mechanism. The `main sequence', consisting of spirals, irregulars and all dwarf galaxies, is probably produced by gas settling within dark matter…
How elliptical galaxies form is a key question in observational cosmology. While the formation of massive ellipticals is strongly linked to mergers, the low mass (Mstar < 10^9.5 MSun) regime remains less well explored. In particular,…
Compact elliptical (cE) galaxies remain an elusively difficult galaxy class to study. Recent observations have suggested that isolated and host-associated cEs have different formation pathways, while simulation studies have also shown…
We look for evidence of tidal stripping in elliptical galaxies through the analysis of homogeneous CCD data corresponding to a sample of 228 elliptical galaxies belonging to 24 clusters of galaxies at $0.015<z<0.080$. We investigate…
We present a deep broadband optical imaging study of a complete sample of luminous elliptical galaxies (M_B<-20) at distances 15 Mpc - 50 Mpc, selected from the Tully catalog of nearby galaxies. The images are flat to ~0.35% across the 20'…
The bimodal globular cluster (GC) metallicity distributions of many giant elliptical galaxies are often cited as evidence for the formation of such galaxies through mergers involving gas-rich spirals. In such models, the metal- rich GCs are…
Elliptical galaxies probably host the most metal rich stellar populations in the Universe. The processes leading to both the formation and the evolution of such stars are discussed by means of a new gas dynamical model which implements…
This work presents high $S/N$ spectroscopic observations of a representative sample of nearby elliptical galaxies. These observations provide a strong test of models for the formation of elliptical galaxies and their star formation…
Massive, quiescent galaxies at high redshift have been found to be considerably more compact than galaxies of similar mass in the local universe. How these compact galaxies formed has yet to be determined, though several progenitor…