Testing the gravitational field in elliptical galaxies - NGC 5077

Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Astrophysical Journal; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/170058· OSTI ID:5516049

Bertola, F; Bettoni, D; Danziger, J; Sadler, E; Sparke, L ^[1]

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1. Padova, Universita, Padua (Italy) Padova, Osservatorio Astronomico, Padua (Italy) European Southern Observatory, Garching (Federal Republic of Germany) Anglo-Australian Observatory, Epping (Australia) Kapteyn Laboratorium, Groningen (Netherlands)

The intrinsic shape and the mass distribution of the underlying galaxy of NGC 5077, a southern elliptical galaxy with a disk of ionized gas along its minor axis, are investigated on the basis of observations of the structure and kinematics of this gas disk. It is shown that it is possible to construct realistic triaxial mass models for early-type galaxies. These models suggest that NGC 5077 has a constant M/L of about 4-5 in solar units throughout the central 5-10 kpc. The velocity fields of the triaxial models offer three advantages: they can explain the observed position angle differnce of 23 degrees between the gas rotation axis and the apparent major axis of the stars as being due to a projection effect; they provide a natural explanation for the observed increase in the gas velocity dispersion in the central 2-3 arcsec; and the associated density distributions have small cores, so they do not require M/L to drop to low values in the center. Equilibrium and polar ring models and other galaxies are discussed as well. 71 refs.

• OSTI ID: 5516049
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (United States), Vol. 373; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
GALAXIES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
BALMER LINES
ELLIPTICAL CONFIGURATION
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
H1 REGIONS
IONIZED GASES
MASS DISTRIBUTION
MORPHOLOGY
PARTICLE KINEMATICS
SPECTROSCOPY
CONFIGURATION
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DISTRIBUTION
FLUIDS
GASES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
640105* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Galaxies