Context. Galaxy mergers are widely discussed as one possible evolution mechanism for lenticular galaxies (S0s), because even minor mergers induce structural changes that are difficult to reconcile with the strong bulge-disk coupling observed in the photometric scaling relations of these galaxies. Aims: We check if the evolution induced onto S0s by

We present the first large-scale stellar kinematic and line-strength maps for dwarf elliptical galaxies (nine in the Virgo cluster and three in the field environment) obtained with the SAURON (Spectrographic Areal Unit for Research on Optical Nebulae) integral-field unit. No two galaxies in our sample are alike: we see that the level of rotation is

The accretion of minor satellites is currently proposed as the most likely mechanism to explain the significant size evolution of the massive galaxies during the last ˜10 Gyr. In this paper, we investigate the rest-frame colours and the average stellar ages of satellites found around massive galaxies (Mstar ˜ 1011 M&sun;) since z ˜ 2. We find that

An essential component of galaxy formation theory is the stellar initial mass function (IMF) that describes the parent distribution of stellar mass in star-forming regions. We present observational evidence in a sample of early-type galaxies (ETGs) of a tight correlation between central velocity dispersion and the strength of several absorption

We present a study of the kinematics of the isolated spiral galaxy NGC 864, using Hα Fabry-Perot data obtained with the Galaxy Hα Fabry-Perot System (GHαFaS) instrument at the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, complemented with images at 3.6 μm, in the R band and in Hα filter, and integral-field spectroscopic data. The resulting data cubes

Aims: The chemical evolution of galaxies on a cosmological timescale is still a matter of debate despite the increasing number of available data provided by spectroscopic surveys of star-forming galaxies at different redshifts. The fundamental relations involving metallicity, such as the mass - metallicity relation (MZR) or the fundamental

We present the first public data release (DR1) of the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. It consists of science-grade optical datacubes for the first 100 of eventually 600 nearby (0.005 < z < 0.03) galaxies, obtained with the integral-field spectrograph PMAS/PPak mounted on the 3.5 m telescope at the Calar Alto observatory. The

We present the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS), an ESO/GTC Large Program carried out using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). SHARDS is an ultra-deep optical spectro-photometric survey of the GOODS-N field covering 130 arcmin2 at wavelengths between 500 and 950 nm with 24 contiguous medium

Some recent observations seem to disagree with hierarchical theories of galaxy formation about the role played by major mergers in the late buildup of massive E-S0s. We re-address this question by analysing the morphology, structural distortion level and star formation enhancement of a sample of massive galaxies (M* > 5 × 1010 M&sun;) lying on the

Present-day massive galaxies are composed mostly of early-type objects. It is unknown whether this was also the case at higher redshifts. In a hierarchical assembling scenario the morphological content of the massive population is expected to change with time from disc-like objects in the early Universe to spheroid-like galaxies at present. In this

We place our sample of 18 Virgo dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) on the (V - K)e-velocity dispersion, Faber-Jackson, and fundamental plane (FP) scaling relations for massive early-type galaxies (Es). We use a generalized velocity dispersion, which includes rotation, to be able to compare the location of both rotationally and pressure supported dEs

The mechanism causing breaks in the radial surface-brightness distribution of spiral galaxies is not yet well known. Despite theoretical efforts, there is not a unique explanation for these features and the observational results are not conclusive. In an attempt to address this problem, we have selected a sample of 34 highly inclined spiral

We propose a new chemical evolution model aimed at explaining the chemical properties of globular clusters (GCs) stars. Our model depends upon the existence of (i) a peculiar pre-enrichment phase in the GC's parent galaxy associated with very low-metallicity Type II supernovae (SNe II) and (ii) localized inhomogeneous enrichment from a single Type

We present the results of a spectroscopic survey performed in the outskirts of the globular cluster NGC 1851 with VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph (VIMOS)/Very Large Telescope (VLT). The radial velocities of 107 stars in a region between 12 and 33 arcmin around the cluster have been derived. We clearly identify the cluster stellar population over

Context. Recent studies have argued that galaxy mergers are not important drivers for the evolution of S0's, on the basis that mergers cannot preserve the coupling between the bulge and disk scale-lengths observed in these galaxies and the lack of correlation of their ratio with the S0 Hubble type. However, about 70% of present-day S0's reside in

Aims: The role of galaxy mergers in massive galaxy evolution, and in particular to mass assembly and size growth, remains an open question. In this paper we measure the merger fraction and rate, both minor and major, of massive early-type galaxies (M ⋆ ≥ 1011 M&sun;) in the COSMOS field, and study their role in mass and size evolution. Methods: We

We present a technique to extract ultra-deep diffuse-light spectra from the standard multi-object spectroscopic observations used to investigate extragalactic globular cluster (GC) systems. This technique allows a clean extraction of the spectrum of the host galaxy diffuse light from the same slitlets as the GC targets. We show the utility of the

Spitzer IR Array Camera (IRAC) mid-infrared photometry is presented for the globular cluster (GC) systems of the NGC 5128 (`Centaurus A') and NGC 4594 (`Sombrero') galaxies. Existing optical photometric and spectroscopic are combined with this new data in a comprehensive optical-to-mid-IR colour catalogue of 260 GCs. Empirical colour-metallicity

We have performed a spectroscopic study of globular clusters (GCs) in the nearest giant elliptical NGC 5128 using the 2dF facility at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We obtained integrated optical spectra for a total of 254 GCs, 79 of which are newly confirmed on the basis of their radial velocities and spectra. In addition, we obtained an

We analyse a high-resolution, fully cosmological, hydrodynamical disc galaxy simulation, to study the source of the double-exponential light profiles seen in many stellar discs, and the effects of stellar radial migration upon the spatiotemporal evolution of both the disc age and metallicity distributions. We find a `break' in the pure exponential