Central stellar mass deficits of early-type galaxies

Tsige Dullo, B.; Graham, A.
Bibliographical reference

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #227, id.#301.03

Advertised on:
1
2016
Number of authors
2
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The centers of giant galaxies display stellar mass deficits (Mdef) which are thought to be a signature left by inspiraling supermassive black holes (SMBHs) from pre-merged galaxies. We quantify these deficits using the core-Sérsic model for the largest ever sample of early-type galaxies and find Mdef ˜ 0.5 to 4 MBH (SMBH mass). We find that lenticular disc galaxies with bulge magnitudes MV ≤ -21.0 mag also have central stellar deficits, suggesting that their bulges may have formed from major merger events while their surroundingdisc was subsequently built up, perhaps via cold gas accretion scenarios. Interestingly, these bulges have sizes and mass densities comparable to the compact galaxies found at z ˜ 1.5 to 2.