The globular cluster kinematics and galaxy dark matter content of NGC 3923

Norris, Mark A.; Gebhardt, Karl; Sharples, Ray M.; Faifer, Favio Raul; Bridges, Terry; Forbes, Duncan A.; Forte, Juan C.; Zepf, Stephen E.; Beasley, Michael A.; Hanes, David A.; Proctor, Robert; Kannappan, Sheila J.
Referencia bibliográfica

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 421, Issue 2, pp. 1485-1498.

Fecha de publicación:
4
2012
Número de autores
12
Número de autores del IAC
1
Número de citas
30
Número de citas referidas
29
Descripción
This paper presents further results from our spectroscopic study of the globular cluster (GC) system of the group elliptical NGC 3923. From observations made with the GMOS instrument on the Gemini South Telescope, an additional 50 GC and ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) candidates have been spectroscopically confirmed as members of the NGC 3923 system. When the recessional velocities of these GCs are combined with the 29 GC velocities reported previously, a total sample of 79 GC/UCD velocities is produced. This sample extends to over 6 arcmin (> 6 Re˜ 30 kpc) from the centre of NGC 3923 and is used to study the dynamics of the GC system and the dark matter content of NGC 3923. It is found that the GC system of NGC 3923 displays no appreciable rotation, and that the projected velocity dispersion is constant with radius within the uncertainties. The velocity dispersion profiles of the integrated light and GC system of NGC 3923 are indistinguishable over the region in which they overlap. We find some evidence that the diffuse light and GCs of NGC 3923 have radially biased orbits within ˜130 arcsec. The application of axisymmetric orbit-based models to the GC and integrated light velocity dispersion profiles demonstrates that a significant increase in the mass-to-light ratio (from M/LV= 8 to 26) at large galactocentricradii is required to explain this observation. We therefore confirm the presence of a dark matter halo in NGC 3923. We find that dark matter comprises 17.5? per cent of the mass within 1 Re, 41.2? per cent within 2 Re and 75.6? per cent within the radius of our last kinematic tracer at 6.9 Re. The total dynamical mass within this radius is found to be ? M&sun;. In common with other studies of large ellipticals, we find that our derived dynamical mass profile is consistently higher than that derived by X-ray observations, by a factor of around 2.
Proyectos relacionados
Miembros del grupo
Huellas de la Formación de las Galaxias: Poblaciones estelares, Dinámica y Morfología
Bienvenida a la página web del g rupo de investigación Traces of Galaxy Formation. Somos un grupo de investigación amplio, diverso y muy activo cuyo objetivo principal es entender la formación de galaxias en el Universo de una manera lo más completa posible. Con el estudio detellado de las poblaciones estelares como bandera, estamos constantemente
Ignacio
Martín Navarro