Bibcode
Laurikainen, Eija; Salo, H.; Buta, R.; Knapen, J. H.; Speltincx, T.; Block, D. L.
Bibliographical reference
Galaxy Evolution Across the Hubble Time, Edited by F. Combes and J. Palous, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 2, IAU Symposium #235, held 14-17 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007., pp.36-38
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0
2007
Citations
3
Refereed citations
3
Description
The luminosity of the bulge was an important parameter in the early
classification of galaxies. Later a large dispersion was found between
the bulge-to-total (B/T) mass ratio and the morphological type, but B/T
is still expected to have a fundamental role in the evolutionary picture
of galaxies. For example the B/T, together with the shape parameter of
the bulge, is crucial for evaluating when bulges were formed in
galaxies: in the primordial collapse, in galaxy mergers in the
hierarchical clustering, or relatively recently by more slow secular
evolutionary processes in galaxies? B/T-ratio is also a key parameter
for evaluating the importance of gas stripping in galaxies, a process by
which spirals might be converted into S0s. The mass of the bulge has
also repeatedly been found to be correlated with the mass of the
supermassive central black hole. In order to evaluate galaxy evolution
in the Hubble sequence, the B/T-ratios need to be estimated using a
similar structural decomposition method for all morphological types. It
is also of crucial importance to take into account, not only the bulges
and disks, but also bars and ovals, since many bars and ovals appear
frequently particularly in early-type disk galaxies. The statistically
well defined data-bases - OSUBGS (Ohio State University Bright Galaxy
Survey) for spirals and NIRS0S (Near-InfraRed S0 Survey) for S0s, as
well as the recent development of multicomponent decomposition methods,
have made possible, for the first time, a uniform estimation of
B/T-ratios in the Hubble sequence .