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Trends In The Globular Cluster Luminosity Function Of Early-Type Galaxies, Andrés Jordán, Dean E. Mclaughlin, Patrick Côté, David Merritt, Et Al.
Trends In The Globular Cluster Luminosity Function Of Early-Type Galaxies, Andrés Jordán, Dean E. Mclaughlin, Patrick Côté, David Merritt, Et Al.
Articles
We present results from a study of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) in a sample of 89 earlytype galaxies observed as part of the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. Using a Gaussian parametrization of the GCLF, we find a highly significant correlation between the GCLF dispersion, , and the galaxy luminosity, MB,gal, in the sense that the GC systems in fainter galaxies have narrower luminosity functions. The GCLF dispersions in the Milky Way and M31 are fully consistent with this trend, implying that the correlation between sigma and galaxy luminosity is more fundamental than older suggestions that GCLF shape is …
Mass Deficits, Stalling Radii, And The Merger Histories Of Elliptical Galaxies, David Merritt
Mass Deficits, Stalling Radii, And The Merger Histories Of Elliptical Galaxies, David Merritt
Articles
A binary supermassive black hole leaves an imprint on a galactic nucleus in the form of a “mass deficit,” a decrease in the mass of the nucleus due to ejection of stars by the binary. The magnitude of the mass deficit is in principle related to the galaxy’s merger history, but the relation has never been quantified. Here, highaccuracy N-body simulations are used to calibrate this relation. Mass deficits are shown to be Mde f ≈ 0.5M12, with M12 the total mass of the binary; the coefficient in this relation depends only weakly on M2/M1 or on the galaxy’s pre-existing …