A Fundamental Line for Elliptical Galaxies

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that massive galaxies in the distant universe are surprisingly compact, with typical sizes about a factor of three smaller than equally massive galaxies in the nearby universe. It has been suggested that these massive galaxies grow into systems resembling nearby galaxies through a series of minor mergers. In this model the size growth of galaxies is an inherently stochastic process, and the resulting size-luminosity relationship is expected to have considerable environmentally-dependent scatter. To test whether minor mergers can explain the size growth in massive galaxies, we have closely examined the scatter in the size-luminosity relation of nearby elliptical galaxies using a large new database (Nair & Abraham 2010) of accurate visual galaxy classifications. We demonstrate that this scatter is much smaller than has been previously assumed, and may even be so small as to challenge the plausibility of the merger driven hierarchical models for the formation of massive ellipticals.

6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJL. Higher resolution figures available at http://www.bo.astro.it/~nair/Morphology/

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• A calibration of the stellar mass fundamental plane at z ~ 0.5 using the micro-lensing induced flux ratio anomalies of macro-lensed quasars
• Hiding in plain sight: An abundance of compact massive spheroids in the local Universe
• Environmental dependence of bulge-dominated galaxy sizes in hierarchical models of galaxy formation. Comparison with the local Universe
• The effect of the environment on the stellar mass - size relation of present-day galaxies
• Mergers in Galaxy Groups - I. Structure and Properties of Elliptical Remnants
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• The galaxy mass-size relation in CARLA clusters and proto-clusters at 1.4 < z < 2.8: larger cluster galaxy sizes
• The road to the red sequence: A detailed view of the formation of a massive galaxy at z~2
• Globular cluster systems in fossil groups: NGC6482, NGC1132 and ESO306-017
• The size--mass and other structural parameter ($n,{\mu }_z,R_z$) relations for local bulges/spheroids from multicomponent decompositions
• Evolution of the Sérsic Index up to z=2.5 from JWST and HST
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• Evanescent Matter
• The natural science of cosmology