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Structural properties of dwarf ellipticals and the connection with (ordinary) elliptical galaxies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 November 2005
Abstract
This article reviews the popular reasons for the belief that dwarf elliptical galaxies and (ordinary) elliptical galaxies are distinct and separate species. They include: light–profile shape (or similarly image concentration); the magnitude–central surface brightness diagram; the magnitude–effective surface brightness diagram (or similarly the magnitude–effective radius diagram); and the Fundamental Plane. It is shown how a continuous trend between luminosity and a) light–profile shape, and b) central surface brightness (until the onest of core formation at $M_B \sim -20.5$ mag), results in a unification of the dwarf elliptical and (ordinary) elliptical galaxies. Neither the above four reasons, nor the luminosity function (at least in the Virgo cluster) provide evidence for a division at $M_B=-18$ mag between the dwarf elliptical and (ordinary) elliptical galaxies. Instead, they appear to be continuous extensions of each other.
Keywords
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 1 , Colloquium C198: Near-Field Cosmology with Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies , March 2005 , pp. 303 - 310
- Copyright
- © 2005 International Astronomical Union
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