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Published 1987 | Published
Book Section - Chapter Open

The Manifold of Elliptical Galaxies

Abstract

Global properties of elliptical galaxies, such as the luminosity, radius, projected velocity dispersion, projected luminosity density, etc., form a two-dimensional family. This "fundamental plane" of elliptical galaxies can be defined by the velocity dispersion and mean surface brightness, and its thickness is presently given by the measurement error-bars only. This is indicative of a strong regularity in the process of galaxy formation. However, all morphological parameters which describe the shape of the distribution of light, and reflect dynamical anisotropics of stars, are completely independent from each other, and independent of the fundamental plane. The M/L ratios show only a small intrinsic scatter in a luminosity range spanning some four orders of magnitude; this suggests a constant fraction of the dark matter contribution in elliptical galaxies.

Additional Information

© 1987 IAU. I would like to thank to the staff of Lick Observatory for their help during the surface photometry survey, on which this work is based, and to Marc Davis, who paid the bills. I acknowledge useful conversations with Marc Davis, Ivan King, Sandra Faber, Roger Davies, and many others. This work was supported in part by the NSF grant AST84-19910 to M. Davis, and a Harvard Junior Fellowship to the author.

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Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023