Bibcode
Davis, T. A.; Alatalo, K.; Bureau, M.; Young, L.; Blitz, L.; Crocker, A.; Bayet, E.; Bois, M.; Bournaud, F.; Cappellari, M.; Davies, R. L.; Duc, P.-A.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Emsellem, E.; Falcon-Barroso, J.; Khochfar, S.; Krajnovic, D.; Kuntschner, H.; Lablanche, P.-Y.; McDermid, R. M.; Morganti, R.; Naab, T.; Sarzi, M.; Scott, N.; Serra, P.; Weijmans, A.
Bibliographical reference
The Intriguing Life of Massive Galaxies, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium, Volume 295, pp. 324-327
Advertised on:
7
2013
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
Recently, massive early-type galaxies have shed their red-and-dead
moniker, thanks to the discovery that many host residual star formation.
As part of the ATLAS-3D project, we have conducted a complete,
volume-limited survey of the molecular gas in 260 local early-type
galaxies with the IRAM-30m telescope and the CARMA interferometer, in an
attempt to understand the fuel powering this star formation. We find
that around 22% of early-type galaxies in the local volume host
molecular gas reservoirs. This detection rate is independent of galaxy
luminosity and environment. Here we focus on how kinematic misalignment
measurements and gas-to-dust ratios can be used to put constraints on
the origin of the cold ISM in these systems. The origin of the cold ISM
seems to depend strongly on environment, with misaligned, dust poor gas
(indicative of externally acquired material) being common in the field
but completely absent in rich groups and in the Virgo cluster. Very
massive galaxies also appear to be devoid of accreted gas. This suggests
that in the field mergers and/or cold gas accretion dominate the gas
supply, while in clusters internal secular processes become more
important. This implies that environment has a strong impact on the cold
gas properties of ETGs.