6533b7ddfe1ef96bd12735dc
RESEARCH PRODUCT
A Sample of Field Ellipticals
Vicent J. MartínezMatthew J. GrahamRodney Smithsubject
Physicseducation.field_of_studySpiral galaxyField (physics)PopulationAstrophysics (astro-ph)FOS: Physical sciencesAstronomy and AstrophysicsAstrophysicsAstrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic AstrophysicsAstrophysicsGalaxySpace and Planetary ScienceElliptical galaxyeducationcomputerLedaAstrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysicscomputer.programming_languageDwarf galaxyLuminosity function (astronomy)description
Using well-defined selection criteria applied to the LEDA galaxy catalogue we have constructed a sample of elliptical galaxies that can be taken to lie in the field. Such criteria can easily be applied to theoretical simulations for direct comparison with observations. The variation of the number of `isolated' ellipticals with selection criteria is also investigated. A preliminary study of the environment of the field ellipticals shows that, in the mean, they are surrounded by a population of dwarf galaxies, out to projected radii of at least 500 kpc, with a radial density profile of $r^{-0.6\pm 0.2}$ and a luminosity function slope of $\alpha \sim -1.8$. The results are compared and contrasted to the satellite population around isolated spiral galaxies.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-11-27 |