The evolutionary history of early-type galaxies as derived from the fundamental plane |
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Authors: | MA Pahre SG Djorgovski RR De Carvalho |
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Institution: | 1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Mail Stop 20, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA 2. Palomar Observatory, California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 105-24, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA 3. Departamento de Astrofisica, Observatorio Nacional, MCT, Rua General José Cristino 77, 20921-030, S?o Cristóv?o, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Abstract: | The fundamental plane (FP) scaling relations and their evolution are a powerful tool for studying the global properties of
early-type galaxies and their evolutionary history. The form of the FP, as derived by surveys in the local Universe at wavelengths
ranging from the U to the K band, cannot be explained by metallicity variations alone among early-type galaxies; systematic variations in age, dark matter
content, or homology breaking are required. A large-scale study of early-type galaxies at 0.1 < z < 0.6demonstrates that the SB intercept of the FP, the rest frame (U-V) colour, and the absorption line strengths all evolve passively, thereby implying a high mean formation redshift for the stellar
content. The slope of the FP evolves with redshift, which is broadly consistent with systematic age effects occurring along
the early-type galaxy sequence. The implication that the least luminous early-type galaxies formed later than the luminous
galaxies is discussed in the context of the evolution of thecolour–magnitude relation, the Butcher–Oemler effect and hierarchical
galaxy formation models.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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