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Shells and the Potential Wells of Elliptical Galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2017

P.J. Quinn  and
Lars Hernquist
P.J. Quinn
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218
Lars Hernquist
Affiliation:
Dept. of Astronomy, Univ. California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Abstract

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A survey of the possible variety of sharp-edged, caustic features that may arise in the collision of galaxies with very different masses and sizes (Hernquist and Quinn 1986a) has shown that in general shells are morphologically very complex. It is therefore not easy to determine the history of the collision that produced the shells nor the properties of the galaxies involved. However, a small number of shell galaxies (notably NGC 3923) have a sufficiently simple and orderly shell distribution that we believe the shells were formed by a chance very symmetric and simple encounter. In such cases we are presented with a unique opportunity to investigate the potential well of an elliptical galaxy over a large range in radius (≃ 0.5re − 20re). An analysis of the NGC 3923 shell system (Hernquist and Quinn 1986b) has shown that a large amount of dark matter is present (Mdark≃ 40Mluminous, r < 17re).

Type
Invited Reviews
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 127: Structure and Dynamics of Elliptical Galaxies , 1987 , pp. 249 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1987 

References

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