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Register a new userStellar Kinematics and Structural Properties of Virgo Cluster Dwarf Early-Type Galaxies from the SMAKCED Project II. The Survey and a Systematic Analysis of Kinematic Anomalies and Asymmetries
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We present spatially resolved kinematics and global stellar populations and mass-to-light ratios for a sample of 39 dwarf early-type (dE) galaxies in the Virgo cluster studied as part of the SMAKCED stellar absorption-line spectroscopy and imaging survey. This sample is representative of the early-type population in the absolute magnitude range -19.0 < M_r < -16.0. For each dE, we measure the rotation curve and velocity dispersion profile and fit an analytic function to the rotation curve. We study the significance of the departure of the rotation curve from the best fit analytic function (poorly fit) and of the difference between the approaching and receding sides of the rotation curve (asymmetry). We find that 62 +/- 8 % (23 out of the 39) of the dEs have a significant anomaly in their rotation curve. Analysis of the images reveals photometric anomalies for most galaxies. However, there is no clear correlation between the significance of the photometric and kinematic anomalies. We measure age-sensitive and metallicity-sensitive Lick spectral indices and find a wide range of ages and metallicities. We also find that 4 dEs have emission partially filling in the Balmer absorption lines. Finally, we estimate the total masses and dark matter fractions of the dEs. They have a median total mass and dark matter fraction within the Re of log Me = 9.1 +/- 0.2 and f_DM = 46 +/- 18 %. We plot several scaling relations and show that dEs seem to be the bridge between massive early-type and dwarf spheroidal galaxies.
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We analyze the stellar kinematics of 39 dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in the Virgo cluster. Based on the specific stellar angular momentum lambda_e and the ellipticity, we find 11 slow rotators and 28 fast rotators. The fast rotators in the outer parts of the Virgo cluster rotate significantly faster than fast rotators in the inner parts of the cluster. Moreover, 10 out of the 11 slow rotators are located in the inner 3 degrees (D < 1 Mpc) of the cluster. The fast rotators contain subtle disky structures that are visible in high-pass filtered optical images, while the slow rotators do not exhibit these structures. In addition, two of the dEs have kinematically decoupled cores and four more have emission partially filling in the Balmer absorption lines. These properties suggest that Virgo cluster dEs may have originated from late-type star-forming galaxies that were transformed by the environment after their infall into the cluster. The correlation between lambda_e and the clustercentric distance can be explained by a scenario where low luminosity star-forming galaxies fall into the cluster, their gas is rapidly removed by ram pressure stripping, although some of it can be retained in their core, their star-formation is quenched but their stellar kinematics are preserved. After a long time in the cluster and several passes through its center, the galaxies are heated up and transformed into slow rotating dEs.
We place our sample of 18 Virgo dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) on the V-K - 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 with those of early and late-type galaxies. We find that dEs seem to bend the Faber-Jackson relation of Es to lower velocity dispersions, being the link between Es and dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). Regarding the FP relation, we find that dEs are significantly offset with respect to massive hot stellar systems, and re-casting the FP into the so-called kappa-space suggests that this offset is related to dEs having a total mass-to-light ratio higher than Es but still significantly lower than dSph galaxies. Given a stellar mass-to-light ratio based on the measured line indices of dEs, the FP offset allows us to infer that the dark matter fraction within the half light radii of dEs is on average >~ 42% (uncertainties of 17% in the K band and 20% in the V band), fully consistent with an independent estimate in an earlier paper in this series. We also find that dEs in the size-luminosity relation in the near-infrared, like in the optical, are offset from early-type galaxies, but seem to be consistent with late-type galaxies. We thus conclude that the scaling relations show that dEs are different from Es, and that they further strengthen our previous findings that dEs are closer to and likely formed from late-type galaxies.
What happens to dwarf galaxies as they enter the cluster potential well is one of the main unknowns in studies of galaxy evolution. Several evidence suggests that late-type galaxies enter the cluster and are transformed to dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs). We study the Virgo cluster to understand which mechanisms are involved in this transformation. We find that the dEs in the outer parts of Virgo have rotation curves with shapes and amplitudes similar to late-type galaxies of the same luminosity. These dEs are rotationally supported, have disky isophotes, and younger ages than those dEs in the center of Virgo, which are pressure supported, often have boxy isophotes and are older. Ram pressure stripping, thus, explains the properties of the dEs located in the outskirts of Virgo. However, the dEs in the central cluster regions, which have lost their angular momentum, must have suffered a more violent transformation. A combination of ram pressure stripping and harassment is not enough to remove the rotation and the spiral/disky structures of these galaxies. We find that on the the Faber-Jackson and the Fundamental Plane relations dEs deviate from the trends of massive elliptical galaxies towards the position of dark matter dominated systems such as the dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way and M31. Both, rotationally and pressure supported dEs, however, populate the same region in these diagrams. This indicates that dEs have a non-negligible dark matter fraction within their half light radius.
We present new medium resolution kinematic data for a sample of 21 dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) mainly in the Virgo cluster, obtained with the WHT and INT telescopes at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain). These data are used to study the origin of the dwarf elliptical galaxy population inhabiting clusters. We confirm that dEs are not dark matter dominated galaxies, at least up to the half-light radius. We also find that the observed galaxies in the outer parts of the cluster are mostly rotationally supported systems with disky morphological shapes. Rotationally supported dEs have rotation curves similar to those of star forming galaxies of similar luminosity and follow the Tully-Fisher relation. This is expected if dE galaxies are the descendant of low luminosity star forming systems which recently entered the cluster environment and lost their gas due to a ram pressure stripping event, quenching their star formation activity and transforming into quiescent systems, but conserving their angular momentum.
We present Gemini GMOS-IFU data of eight compact low-mass early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the Virgo cluster. We analyse their stellar kinematics, stellar population, and present two-dimensional maps of these properties covering the central 5x 7 region. We find a large variety of kinematics: from non- to highly-rotating objects, often associated with underlying disky isophotes revealed by deep images from the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. In half of our objects, we find a centrally-concentrated younger and more metal-rich stellar population. We analyze the specific stellar angular momentum through the lambdaR parameter and find six fast-rotators and two slow-rotators, one having a thin counter-rotating disk. We compare the local galaxy density and stellar populations of our objects with those of 39 more extended low-mass Virgo ETGs from the SMAKCED survey and 260 massive ($M>10^{10}$Msun) ETGs from the A3D sample. The compact low-mass ETGs in our sample are located in high density regions, often close to a massive galaxy and have, on average, older and more metal-rich stellar populations than less compact low-mass galaxies. We find that the stellar population parameters follow lines of constant velocity dispersion in the mass-size plane, smoothly extending the comparable trends found for massive ETGs. Our study supports a scenario where low-mass compact ETGs have experienced long-lived interactions with their environment, including ram-pressure stripping and gravitational tidal forces, that may be responsible for their compact nature.
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