Early Type Galaxies (ETGs) are a key component of the Universe, as they contain most of its stellar mass. They are known to follow many scaling relations, mostly driven by the massive end. The ETGs can be split into two distinctive realms: the already well-known, well-studied extended realm (formed by large ETGs and dwarf galaxies) and a relatively newer, unexplored one, the compact realm (formed by ultra
compact dwarfs, compact ellipticals and massive compact galaxies). Covering the same mass range, but having much smaller sizes than galaxies in the extended realm, the nature of this new family of galaxies discovered only a decade ago and the implications of their existence within a wider cosmological context need to be better understood. Could these galaxies be the missing component to solve some long-standing problems in the current galaxy formation paradigm?
This project, POKEBOWL, aims at revealing what compact galaxies are, how they formed and how they get to co-exist at all galaxy masses despite their mixed-bag of origins. In POKEBOWL, several key ingredients are mixed: from the very massive compact galaxies, whether they are relics of the early Universe or newly formed massive galaxies, low-mass galaxies and tiny ultra-compact dwarfs and compact ellipticals. This will be done within a multiwavelength approach that will exploit some of the most unexplored spectral ranges for stellar population studies such as the Ultra Violet and the Infra Red. Studying the stellar populations, kinematics, morphologies, and possible relations to the central black hole of the galaxies in this compact realm we will be in the position to reply to the question: do galaxies in the compact realm follow their own formation path as a single family?