Bibcode
Sánchez-Janssen, R.; Aguerri, J. A. L.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 424, Issue 4, pp. 2614-2624.
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8
2012
Citations
27
Refereed citations
27
Description
Early-type dwarfs (dEs) are by far the most abundant galaxy population
in nearby clusters. Whether these objects are primordial, or the recent
end products of the different physical mechanisms that can transform
galaxies once they enter these high-density environments, is still a
matter of debate. Here we present a novel approach to test these
scenarios by comparing the properties of the globular cluster systems
(GCSs) of Virgo dEs and their potential progenitors with simple
predictions from gravitational and hydrodynamical interaction models. We
show that low-mass (M★ ≲ 2 × 108
M&sun;) dEs have GCSs consistent with the descendants of
gas-stripped late-type dwarfs. On the other hand, higher mass dEs have
properties - including the high mass specific frequencies of their GCSs
and their concentrated spatial distribution within Virgo - incompatible
with a recent, environmentally driven evolution. They mostly comprise
nucleated systems, but also dEs with recent star formation and/or disc
features. Bright, nucleated dEs appear to be a population that has long
resided within the cluster potential well, but have surprisingly managed
to retain very rich and spatially extended GCSs - possibly an indication
of high total masses. Our analysis does not favour violent evolutionary
mechanisms that result in significant stellar mass-losses, but more
gentle processes involving gas removal by a combination of internal and
external factors, and highlights the relevant role of initial
conditions. Additionally, we briefly comment on the origin of luminous
cluster S0 galaxies.
Related projects
Galaxy Evolution in Clusters of Galaxies
Galaxies in the universe can be located in different environments, some of them are isolated or in low density regions and they are usually called field galaxies. The others can be located in galaxy associations, going from loose groups to clusters or even superclusters of galaxies. One of the foremost challenges of the modern Astrophysics is to
Jairo
Méndez Abreu