Related papers: The formation of compact dwarf ellipticals through…
Massive early-type galaxies have undergone dramatic structural evolution over the last 10 Gyr. A companion paper shows that nearby elliptical galaxies with M*>1.3x10^{11} M_sun generically contain three photometric subcomponents: a compact…
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are regarded as the basic building blocks in the formation of larger galaxies and are believed to be the most dark matter dominated systems known in the Universe. There are several models that attempt to explain…
Recent observations of galaxy mergers inside galaxy cluster environments report high star formation rates in the ejected tidal tails, which point towards currently developing tidal dwarf galaxies. We test whether these dwarf objects could…
The halo masses of nearby individual elliptical galaxies can be estimated by using the kinematics of their stars, planetary nebulae, and globular clusters -- ideally in combination. With currently improving coverage of galaxies of ordinary…
Observations consistently show that elliptical galaxies follow a tight "fundamental plane" scaling relation between size, mean surface brightness and velocity dispersion, with the form $R \propto \sigma^{a}\mu^{b}$. This relation not only…
The central regions of galaxies show the presence of massive black holes and/or dense stellar systems. The question about their modes of formation is still under debate. A likely explanation of the formation of the central dense stellar…
[Abridged] We study the properties, evolution and formation mechanisms of isolated field elliptical galaxies. We create a mock catalogue of isolated field elliptical galaxies from the Millennium Simulation Galaxy Catalogue, and trace their…
We apply a simple, one-equation, galaxy formation model on top of the halos and subhalos of a high-resolution dark matter cosmological simulation to study how dwarf galaxies acquire their mass and, for better mass resolution, on over 10^5…
Elliptical galaxies often exhibit complex assembly histories, and are presumed to typically form through a combination of rapid, early star formation and subsequent accretion of material, often resulting from mergers with other galaxies. To…
The origin of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) is not yet clear. One possible formation path of UCDs is the threshing of a nucleated elliptical dwarf galaxy (dE, N), however, it remains unclear how such massive nuclear stellar systems…
Within the context of the standard structure formation scenario, massive present day elliptical galaxies are sometimes thought of as the result of a major merger of spiral systems. Through extensive SPH simulations of merging spirals, we…
More than 50 years have elapsed since the first studies of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. The wealth of data accumulated since then has not only revealed a large cluster system, but also a diversified one, filling loci in the age,…
Ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) have similar properties as massive globular clusters or the nuclei of nucleated galaxies. Recent observations suggesting a high dark matter content and a steep spatial distribution within groups and…
This thesis presents observational studies of evolution of dwarf elliptical galaxies. dE's are numerically dominant population in clusters of galaxies, but their origin and evolution is a matter of debate. Several scenarios of gas removal…
One of the most protracted problems in astronomy has been understanding the evolution of galaxy morphology. Much discussion has surrounded how lenticular galaxies may form a bridging population between elliptical and spiral galaxies.…
Theoretical considerations and observational data support the idea that mergers were more frequent in the past. At redshifts z = 2 to 5, violent interactions and mergers may be implicated by observations of Lyman-break galaxies, sub-mm…
At redshift z = 2, when the Universe was just three billion years old, half of the most massive galaxies were extremely compact and had already exhausted their fuel for star formation(1-4). It is believed that they were formed in intense…
We report preliminary results of a project to homogeneously measure star formation histories for the majority of Local Group dwarf galaxies, based on archival WFPC2 observations. For the dwarf spheroidal and elliptical galaxies, we find…
Luminous elliptical galaxies generally display a rich star cluster system, whose properties provide strong constraints on the physics of galaxy formation and evolution. Star cluster system studies, however, concentrate on galaxies located…
Elliptical galaxies are the main contributors to the chemical enrichment of the intracluster and intergalactic medium; understanding how they form and evolve enables us to get important hints on the amounts of energy and processed matter…