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| Paper: |
The Kinematics of 3:1-Merger Remnants and the Formation of Low-Luminosity Elliptical Galaxies |
| Volume: |
230, Galaxy Disks and Disk Galaxies |
| Page: |
413 |
| Authors: |
Cretton, N.; Naab, T.; Rix, H.-W.; Burkert, A. |
| Abstract: |
We test the formation of low-luminosity elliptical galaxies through collisionless mergers of unequal-mass disk galaxies. The kinematic properties of a small survey of simulated merger end-products with initial disk mass ratios of 3:1 is compared to a sample of seven low-luminosity galaxies observed by Rix et al. that were chosen photometrically to be `ellipticals'. We compare the rotational support of the merger remnants, i.e. the major axis velocity v over the velocity dispersion σ, the normalized rotation on the minor axis and the major axis Gauss-Hermite moments h3, to that of the observed galaxies. Such a detailed comparison demonstrates that purely collisionless 3:1-merger remnants and low-luminosity ellipticals do not have similar kinematic profiles. Hence we conclude that this kind of mergers can not explain the origin of low-luminosity elliptical galaxies. |
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