Related papers: Depleted cores, multi-component fits, and structur…
It is well known that the surface brightness of elliptical galaxies and of bulges of spiral galaxies is best fitted by the Sersic r^{1/n} profile. It is thus interesting to explore the lensing properties of the Sersic model because of its…
We present results from a pilot HST ACS deep imaging study in broad-band V of five low-redshift QSO host galaxies classified in the literature as ellipticals. The aim of our study is to determine whether these early-type hosts formed at…
We revisit the color-magnitude relation (CMR) of the Virgo cluster early-type galaxies in order to explore its alleged non-linearity. To this aim, we reanalyze the relation already published from data obtained within the ACS Virgo Cluster…
We recently revealed that bulges and elliptical galaxies broadly define distinct, super-linear relations in the $M_{\rm bh}$-$M_{\rm *,sph}$ diagram, with the order-of-magnitude lower $M_{\rm bh}/M_{\rm *,sph}$ ratios in the elliptical…
The centers of massive elliptical galaxies exhibit a wide range in density profiles, from central cusps to resolved cores with order kiloparsec sizes. The cored ellipticals have been linked to the presence of supermassive black hole…
We present N-body simulations of elliptical galaxy encounters into dry mergers to study the resulting unbound intergalactic stellar population, in particular that of the post-Main Sequence stars. The systems studied are pairs of spherical…
Partially depleted cores, as measured by core-Sersic model "break radii", are typically tens to a few hundred parsecs in size. Here we investigate the unusually large (cusp radius of 4.57 kpc) depleted core recently reported for Holm 15A,…
The S\'ersic $R^{1/n}$ model is the best approximation known to date for describing the light distribution of stellar spheroidal and disk components, with the S\'ersic index $n$ providing a direct measure of the central radial concentration…
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…
In an effort to secure, refine and supplement the relation between central Supermassive Black Hole masses (Mbh), and the bulge luminosities of their host galaxies, (Lbul), we obtained deep, high spatial resolution K-band images of 35 nearby…
We use HST near-infrared imaging to explore the shapes of the surface brightness profiles of bulges of S0-Sbc galaxies at high resolution. Modeling extends to the outer bulge via bulge-disk decompositions of combined HST - ground based…
We analyse V and H-band surface photometry of a sample of 18 Sb-Sd galaxies. Combining high resolution HST images with ground-based NIR observations, we extract photometric profiles, which cover the whole disk and provide the highest…
This paper addresses some questions which have arisen from the use of the S\'ersic r^{1/n} law in modelling the luminosity profiles of early type galaxies. The first issue deals with the trend between the half-light radius and the…
We present deep B- and R-band surface photometry for a sample of 21 galaxies with morphological types between S0 and Sab. We present radial profiles of surface brightness, colour, ellipticity, position angle and deviations of axisymmetry…
In the context of recent observational results that show massive ellipticals were in place at high redshifts, we reassess the status of monolithic collapse in a LCDM universe. Using a sample of over 2000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky…
We investigate scaling relations of bulges using bulge-disk decompositions at 3.6 micron and present bulge classifications for 173 E-Sd galaxies within 20 Mpc. Pseudobulges and classical bulges are identified using Sersic index, HST…
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…
We have analyzed CCD images of 14 Abell clusters in the R filter of the SARS survey (Way et al 2004), with cz<40000kms^{-1}. We have obtained the luminosity profiles for 507 galaxies of which 232 (46%) have known redshifts. In order to fit…
We make use of the images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 to present an analysis of r band surface brightness profiles and radial color gradients (g - r, u - r) in 111 nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs). With Stripe 82 images, we…
The most massive elliptical galaxies have low-density centers or cores that differ dramatically from the high-density centers of less massive ellipticals and bulges of disk galaxies. These cores have been interpreted as the result of…