The SLUGGS Survey: Understanding Lenticular Galaxy Formation via Extended Stellar Kinematics

We present the latest published and preliminary results from the SLUGGS Survey discussing the formation of lenticular galaxies through analysis of their kinematics. These include a comparison of the measured stellar spin of low-mass lenticular galaxies to the spin of remnant galaxies formed by binar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Galaxies 2017-05, Vol.5 (2), p.26
Main Author: Bellstedt, Sabine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Binary stars
Disk galaxies
Disks
Ellipticity
Galactic evolution
Galaxies
galaxies: elliptical and lenticular
galaxies: evolution
galaxies: formation
Galaxy mergers & collisions
Kinematics
Photometry
Spirals
Star & galaxy formation
Stellar kinematics
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Summary:We present the latest published and preliminary results from the SLUGGS Survey discussing the formation of lenticular galaxies through analysis of their kinematics. These include a comparison of the measured stellar spin of low-mass lenticular galaxies to the spin of remnant galaxies formed by binary merger simulations to assess whether a merger is a likely formation mechanism for these galaxies. We determine that while a portion of lenticular galaxies have properties consistent with these remnants, others are not, indicating that they are likely “faded spirals”. We also present a modified version of the spin-ellipticity diagram, which utilises radial tracks to be able to identify galaxies with intermediate-scale discs. Such galaxies often have conflicting morphological classifications, depending on whether photometric or kinematic measurements are used. Finally, we present preliminary results on the total mass density profile slopes of lenticular galaxies to assess trends as lower stellar masses are probed.
ISSN:2075-4434
2075-4434
DOI:10.3390/galaxies5020026