Determination of the dynamical structure of galaxies using optical spectra |
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Authors: | S. De Rijcke,& H. Dejonghe |
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Affiliation: | Sterrenkundig Observatorium, University of Ghent, Krijgslaan 281, S9, 9000 Gent, Belgium |
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Abstract: | Galaxy spectra are a rich source of kinematical information since the shapes of the absorption lines reflect the movement of stars along the line-of-sight. We present a technique with which to build directly a dynamical model for a galaxy by fitting model spectra, calculated from a dynamical model, to the observed galaxy spectra. Using synthetic spectra from a known galaxy model we demonstrate that this technique indeed recovers the essential dynamical characteristics of the galaxy model. Moreover, the method allows a statistically meaningful error analysis on the resulting dynamical quantities. |
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Keywords: | celestial mechanics stellar dynamics galaxies: kinematics and dynamics |
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