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Register a new userThe SLUGGS Survey: Globular cluster kinematics in a double sigma galaxy - NGC 4473
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NGC 4473 is a so--called double sigma (2$sigma$) galaxy, i.e. a galaxy with rare, double peaks in its 2D stellar velocity dispersion. Here, we present the globular cluster (GC) kinematics in NGC 4473 out to $sim10,R_e$ (effective radii) using data from combined HST/ACS and Subaru/Suprime--Cam imaging and Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy. We find that the 2$sigma$ nature of NGC 4473 persists up to 3 $R_e$, though it becomes misaligned to the photometric major axis. We also observe a significant offset between the stellar and GC rotation amplitudes. This offset can be understood as a co--addition of counter--rotating stars producing little net stellar rotation. We identify a sharp radial transition in the GC kinematics at $sim4,R_e$ suggesting a well defined kinematically distinct halo. In the inner region ($<4,R_e$), the blue GCs rotate along the photometric major axis, but in an opposite direction to the galaxy stars and red GCs. In the outer region ($>4,R_e$), the red GCs rotate in an opposite direction compared to the inner region red GCs, along the photometric major axis, while the blue GCs rotate along an axis intermediate between the major and minor photometric axes. We also find a kinematically distinct population of very red GCs in the inner region with elevated rotation amplitude and velocity dispersion. The multiple kinematic components in NGC 4473 highlight the complex formation and evolutionary history of this 2$sigma$ galaxy, as well as a distinct transition between the inner and outer components.
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We study the mass and anisotropy distribution of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5846 using stars, as well as the red and blue globular cluster (GC) subpopulations. We break degeneracies in the dynamical models by taking advantage of the different phase space distributions of the two GC subpopulations to unambiguously constrain the mass of the galaxy and the anisotropy of the GC system. Red GCs show the same spatial distribution and behaviour as the starlight, whereas blue GCs have a shallower density profile, a larger velocity dispersion and a lower kurtosis, all of which suggest a different orbital distribution. We use a dispersion-kurtosis Jeans analysis and find that the solutions of separate analyses for the two GC subpopulations overlap in the halo parameter space. The solution converges on a massive dark matter halo, consistent with expectations from $Lambda$CDM and WMAP7 cosmology in terms of virial mass ($log M_{DM} sim13.3 M_{sun}$) and concentration ($c_{vir}sim8$). This is the first such analysis that solves the dynamics of the different GC subpopulations in a self-consistent manner. Our method improves the uncertainties on the halo parameter determination by a factor of two and opens new avenues for the use of elliptical galaxy dynamics as tests of predictions from cosmological simulations. The implied stellar mass-to-light ratio derived from the dynamical modelling is fully consistent with a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) and rules out a bottom light IMF. The different GC subpopulations show markedly distinct orbital distributions at large radii, with red GCs having an anisotropy parameter $betasim0.4$ outside $sim3R_e$, and the blue GCs having $betasim0.15$ at the same radii, while centrally ($sim1R_e$) they are both isotropic. We discuss the implications of our findings within the two-phase formation scenario for early-type galaxies.
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