Bibcode
Läsker, R.; van den Bosch, Remco C. E.; van de Ven, Glenn; Ferreras, Ignacio; La Barbera, Francesco; Vazdekis, A.; Falcón-Barroso, J.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Volume 434, Issue 1, p.L31-L35
Advertised on:
7
2013
Citations
41
Refereed citations
41
Description
We present orbit-based dynamical models and stellar population analysis
of Sloan Digital Sky Survey J151741.75-004217.6, a low-redshift (z =
0.116) early-type galaxy (ETG) which, for its moderate luminosity, has
an exceptionally high velocity dispersion. We aim to determine the
central black hole (BH) mass (M•), the i-band stellar
mass-to-light ratio (Υ*, i) and the slope
of the initial mass function (IMF). Combining constraints from Hubble
Space Telescope imaging and long-slit kinematic data with those from
fitting the spectrum with stellar populations models of varying IMFs, we
show that this galaxy has a large fraction of low-mass stars,
significantly higher than implied even by a Salpeter IMF. We exclude a
Chabrier/Kroupa as well as a unimodal (i.e. single-segment) IMF, while a
bimodal (low-mass tapered) shape is consistent with the dynamical
constraints. Thereby, our study demonstrates that a very bottom-heavy
IMF can exist even in an L* ETG. We place an upper limit of
1010.5 M⊙ on M•, which still
leaves open the possibility of an extremely massive BH.
Related projects
Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
Ignacio
Martín Navarro