Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T05:48:32.683Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies of the Local Group & the Stellar Populations and Age of M32

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2017

Wendy L. Freedman
Wendy L. Freedman*
Affiliation:
Carnegie Observatories 813 Santa Barbara Street Pasadena, CA 91101 USA

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

An active debate continues over whether elliptical galaxies are primarily old stellar systems or whether they have had major star formation events in the recent past. Not only is this question of interest with regard to understanding the stellar populations and star formation history of nearby systems, but the resolution of this issue influences the interpretation of the spectra of high-redshift galaxies and has profound consequences for our understanding of galaxy, and therefore ultimately, of cosmological evolution.

Our lack of understanding of the stellar make-up in elliptical galaxies has persisted for some time because there are no giant elliptical galaxies near enough to allow the study of their stellar populations directly. Most information on the stellar populations of elliptical galaxies rely on the interpretation of integrated light. However, direct information on the bright stellar content of low-luminosity elliptical galaxies can be obtained from a study of the Local Group dwarf ellipticals. The nearby Andromeda galaxy, M31 has four low-luminosity elliptical companions: M32, NGC 205, NGC 185 and NGC 147, the subjects of this review.

This review will begin with a broad summary of population characteristics of dwarf elliptical galaxies (dE's), it will briefly summarize what is known about the stellar populations of the four Andromeda companions, and then discuss the specific case of M32 in detail. M32, the highest surface brightness Andromeda companion, has characteristics very simliar to the giant ellipticals, and has therefore been the focus of much of the controversy surrounding the issue of the ages of elliptical galaxies. Studies of its integrated light, in combination with new studies of its brightest resolved giants, particularly in the near-infrared, may help to resolve many of the outstanding questions regarding the stellar populations in elliptical galaxies.

Type
II. The Stellar Populations of Nearby Resolved Galaxies
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 149: The Stellar populations of Galaxies , 1992 , pp. 169 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 

References

Baade, W. 1944, Ap. J. , 100, 79.Google Scholar
Baade, W. 1951, Publ. Obs. Univ. of Michigan , No. 10, 7.Google Scholar
Bender, R. and Nieto, J.-L. 1990, Astr. Ap. , 239, 97.Google Scholar
Bender, R., Paquet, A. and Nieto, J.-L. 1991, Astr. Ap. , 246, 349.Google Scholar
Bica, E., Alloin, D. and Schmidt, A. A. 1990, Astr. Ap. , 228, 23.Google Scholar
Blanco, V. M., McCarthy, M. F., and Blanco, B. M. 1980 Ap. J. , 242, 938.Google Scholar
Burstein, D. Bertola, F., Buson, L. M., Faber, S. M., and Lauer, T. R. 1988, Ap. J. , 328, 440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buson, L. M., Bertola, F., and Burstein, D. 1990, in Windows on Galaxies , eds. Fabbiano, G. et al., (Netherlands: Kluwer), p. 51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, D., and Sadler, E. M. 1990, M. N. R. A. S. , 245, 12p.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. 1979, Ap. J. , 228, 405.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. G., Frogel, J. A., and Persson, S. E. Ap. J. , 222, 165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Da Costa, G. S. and Armandroff, T. E. 1990, A. J. , 100, 162.Google Scholar
Da Costa, G. S. and Mould, J. R. 1988, Ap. J. , 334, 159.Google Scholar
Davidge, T. J. 1990, A. J. , 99, 561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidge, T. J. 1991, A. J. , 101, 884.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, R. L., Frogel, J. A., and Terndrup, D. M., 1991 A. J. , in press.Google Scholar
Davies, R. L., Efstathiou, G., Fall, S. M., Illingworth, G. D., Schechter, P. 1983 Ap. J. , 266, 41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freedman, W. L. 1989, A. J. , 98, 1285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frogel, J. A. 1988, Ann. Rev. Astr. Ap. , 26, 51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frogel, J. A., and Elias, J. H. 1988, Ap. J. , 324, 823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frogel, J. A., Mould, J. R., and Blanco, V. M. 1990, Ap. J. , 352, 96.Google Scholar
Frogel, J. A., and Whitford, A. E. 1987, Ap. J. , 320, 199.Google Scholar
Frogel, J. A., Terndrup, D. M., Blanco, V. M., and Whitford, A. E. 1990, Ap. J. , 353, 494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J. S. and Mould, J. R. 1981, Ap. J. (Letters) , 244, L3.Google Scholar
Harmon, R., and Gilmore, G. 1989, M. N. R. A. S. , 235, 1025.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, 1991, Ann. Rev. Astr. Ap. , 29, 543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Held, E. V., Mould, J. R., and de Zeeuw, P. T. 1990 A. J. , 100, 415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodge, P. W. 1963, A. J. , 68, 691.Google Scholar
Hodge, P. W. 1973, Ap. J. , 182, 671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodge, P. W. 1989, Ann. Rev. Astr. Ap. , 27, 139.Google Scholar
Impey, C. D., Wynn-Williams, C. G., and Becklin, E. E. 1986, Ap. J. , 309, 572.Google Scholar
Johnson, D. W. and Gottesman, S. T. 1983, Ap. J. , 275, 549.Google Scholar
Kent, S. 1987, A. J. , 94, 306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kormendy, J. 1982, in Morphology and Dynamics of Galaxies , eds. Martinet, L., and Mayor, M., (Geneva: Geneva Observatory), p. 115.Google Scholar
Kormendy, J. 1985, Ap. J. (Letters) , 292, L9.Google Scholar
Lee, M. G., Freedman, W. L. and Madore, B. F. 1992a, A. J. , in preparation.Google Scholar
Lee, M. G., Freedman, W. L. and Madore, B. F. 1992b, A. J. , in preparation.Google Scholar
Michard, R. and Nieto, J.-L. 1991, Astr. Ap. , 243, L17.Google Scholar
Mould, J. R., Kristian, J., and da Costa, G. S. 1983, Ap. J. , 270, 471.Google Scholar
Mould, J. R., Kristian, J., and da Costa, G. S. 1984, Ap. J. , 278, 581.Google Scholar
O'Connell, R. W. 1980, Ap. J. , 236, 430.Google Scholar
O'Connell, R. W. 1986, in Spectral Evolution of Galaxies , ed. Chiosi, C. and Renzini, A., (Dordrecht: Reidel), p. 321.Google Scholar
O'Connell, R. W. 1990, in Bulges of Galaxies , eds. Jarvis, B. J. and Terndrup, D. M., (Garching: ESO), p. 187.Google Scholar
Pickles, A. J. 1985, Ap. J. Suppl. , 59, 33.Google Scholar
Price, J. S. 1985, Ap. J. , 297, 652.Google Scholar
Renzini, A. and Buzzoni, A. 1986, in Spectral Evolution of Galaxies , ed. Chiosi, C. and Renzini, A., (Dordrecht: Reidel), p. 135.Google Scholar
Renzini, A. 1986, in Stellar Populations , ed. Norman, C. A., Renzini, A., and Tosi, M., (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 213.Google Scholar
Renzini, and Greggio, 1990, in Bulges of Galaxies , eds. Jarvis, B. J. and Terndrup, D. M., (Garching: ESO), p. 47.Google Scholar
Rich, R. M. 1988, A. J. , 95, 828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rich, R. M. and Mould, J. R. 1991, A. J. , 101, 1286.Google Scholar
Richer, et al. 1984, Ap. J. , 287, 138.Google Scholar
Rose, 1985, A. J. , 90, 1927.Google Scholar
Sage, L. J., and Wrobel, J. M. 1989, Ap. J. , 344, 204.Google Scholar
Saha, A., and Hoessel, J. G. 1990, A. J. , 99, 97.Google Scholar
Saha, A., Hoessel, J. G. and Mossman, A. E. 1990, A. J. , 100, 108.Google Scholar
Sandage, A., Binggeli, B., and Tammann, G. A. 1985, A. J. , 90, 1759.Google Scholar
Sandage, A. R., Becklin, E. E. and Neugebauer, G., 1969 Ap. J. , 157, 55.Google Scholar
Schmidt, A. A., Copetti, M. V. F., Alloin, D. and Jablonka, P. 1991, M. N. R. A. S. , 249, 766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Searle, L. 1979, “Les Elements et leurs Isotopes Dans l'Univers”, (Liege: Institut d'Astrophysique, p. 437.Google Scholar
Searle, L., Wilkinson, A. and Bagnuolo, W. 1980 A. J. , 239, 803.Google Scholar
Sharov, A. S. and Lyuti, V. M. 1983, Sov. Astron. , 27, 1.Google Scholar
Sharov, A. S. and Lyuti, V. M. 1988, Sov. Astron. , 65, 469.Google Scholar
VandenBerg, D. A. and Laskarides, P. G. 1987, Ap. J. Suppl. , 64, 103.Google Scholar
van den Bergh, S. 1975, Ann. Rev. Astr. Ap. , 13, 217.Google Scholar
Whitelock, P., Feast, M., and Catchpole, R. 1991, M. N. R. A. S. , 248, 276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiklind, T. and Rydbeck, G. 1986, Astr. Ap. , 164, L22.Google Scholar
Wirth, A. and Gallagher, J. S. 1984, Ap. J. , 282, 85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar