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Issue A&A
Volume 418, Number 2, May I 2004
Page(s) L27 - L30
Section Letters
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20040114



A&A 418, L27-L30 (2004)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20040114

Letter

Unequal-mass galaxy merger remnants: Spiral-like morphology but elliptical-like kinematics

F. Bournaud1, 2, F. Combes1 and C. J. Jog3

1  Observatoire de Paris, LERMA, 61 Av. de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
2  École Normale Supérieure, 45 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
3  Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India

(Received 14 January 2004 / Accepted 12 March 2004)

Abstract
It is generally believed that major galaxy mergers with mass ratios in the range 1:1-3:1 result in remnants that have properties similar to elliptical galaxies, and minor mergers below 10:1 result in disturbed spiral galaxies. The intermediate range of mass ratios 4:1-10:1 has not been studied so far. Using N-body simulations, we show that such mergers can result in very peculiar systems, that have the morphology of a disk galaxy with an exponential profile, but whose kinematics is closer to that of elliptical systems. These objects are similar to those recently observed by Jog & Chitre (2002). We present two cases with mass ratios 4.5:1 and 7:1, and show that the merging causes major heating and results in the appearance of elliptical-type kinematics, while surprisingly the initial spiral-like mass profile is conserved.


Key words: galaxies: interaction -- galaxies: formation -- galaxies: evolution -- galaxies: kinematics

Offprint request: F. Bournaud, Frederic.Bournaud@obspm.fr




© ESO 2004


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