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A Revised Parallel-sequence Morphological Classification of Galaxies: Structure and Formation of S0 and Spheroidal Galaxies

  • Authors: John Kormendy and Ralf Bender

Kormendy & Bender 2012 The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 198 2.

  • Provider: AAS Journals

Caption: Figure 2.

Global parameter correlations for ellipticals (pink), classical bulges (light brown), and spheroidals (light green) from Kormendy et al. (2009, KFCB) and from Kormendy (2009). Local Group Sphs have been updated and M 81 Group Sphs have been added. The bottom panels show effective radius r e and surface brightness μ e at the effective radius vs. galaxy absolute magnitude. The top panel is the μ e r e or Kormendy (1977b) relation that shows the fundamental plane almost edge-on. Data sources are given in the keys. Light green filled squares show the Sph galaxies whose brightness profiles were measured in KFCB. Green triangles show all galaxies from Ferrarese et al. (2006, F2006) that were classified as dE there and that were not remeasured in KFCB. Crosses show all spheroidals from Gavazzi et al. (2005, "dE" there) that are not in KFCB or in F2006. Dark green triangles show the seven galaxies from F2006 that were omitted from KFCB because they were typed E, S0, or dS0 but that turn out to be spheroidals. Dark green filled circles with brown centers show the 23 remaining galaxies from F2006 that were omitted in KFCB because they were typed S0 by F2006 but did not have bulge–disk decompositions published there. They are plotted here using the F2006 parameters measured for the whole galaxy, i.e., for the bulge and disk together. To properly study bulge and disk scaling relations, bulge–disk decompositions are required; these are carried out in Section 4 and in the Appendix. However, even the whole-galaxy parameters do not conflict with the KFCB conclusion that spheroidals define a parameter sequence that is very different from the fundamental plane of classical bulges and ellipticals. This point was emphasized in Appendix B of KFCB. Section 4 uses these correlations to illustrate results of bulge–disk decompositions, to demonstrate that Sphs are continuous in parameter space with the disks (but not the bulges) of S0 galaxies, and to show that the disks of S0 and S+Im galaxies have similar correlations. This provides justification for juxtaposing Sph and Im galaxies in the parallel-sequence classification.

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