Using the Oxford Short Wavelength Integral Field specTrograph (SWIFT), we investigate radial variations of several initial mass function (IMF) dependent absorption features in M31 and M32. We obtain high signal-to-noise spectra at six pointings along
the major axis of M31 out to ~ 700 (2.7 kpc) and a single pointing of the central 10 pc for M32. In M31 the sodium NaI {lambda}8190 index shows a flat equivalent width profile at ~ 0.4 {AA} through the majority of the bulge, with a strong gradient up to 0.8 {AA} in the central 10 (38 pc); the Wing-Ford FeH {lambda}9916 index is measured to be constant at 0.4 {AA} for all radii; and calcium triplet CaT {lambda}8498, 8542, 8662 shows a gradual increase through the bulge towards the centre. M32 displays flat profiles for all three indices, with FeH at ~ 0.5 {AA}, very high CaT at ~ 0.8 {AA} and low NaI at ~ 0.1 {AA}. We analyse these data using stellar population models. We find that M31 is well described on all scales by a Chabrier IMF, with a gradient in sodium enhancement of [Na/Fe] ~ +0.3 dex in the outer bulge, rising within the central 10 to perhaps [Na/Fe] ~ +1.0 dex in the nuclear region. We find M32 is described by a Chabrier IMF and young stellar age in line with other studies. Models show that CaT is much more sensitive to metallicity and [{alpha}/Fe] than to IMF. We note that the centres of M31 and M32 have very high stellar densities and yet we measure Chabrier IMFs in these regions.
We study the distribution of projected ellipticity n(epsilon) for galaxies in a sample of 20 rich (Richness >= 2) nearby (z < 0.1) clusters of galaxies. We find no evidence of differences in n(epsilon), although the nearest cluster in the sample (the
Coma Cluster) is the largest outlier (P(same) < 0.05). We then study n(epsilon) within the clusters, and find that epsilon increases with projected cluster-centric radius R (hereafter the epsilon-R relation). This trend is preserved at fixed magnitude, showing that this relation exists over and above the trend of more luminous galaxies to be both rounder and more common in the centres of clusters. The epsilon-R relation is particularly strong in the subsample of intrinsically flattened galaxies (epsilon > 0.4), therefore it is not a consequence of the increasing fraction of round slow rotator galaxies near cluster centers. Furthermore, the epsilon-R relation persists for just smooth flattened galaxies and for galaxies with de Vaucouleurs-like light profiles, suggesting that the variation of the spiral fraction with radius is not the underlying cause of the trend. We interpret our findings in light of the classification of early type galaxies (ETGs) as fast and slow rotators. We conclude that the observed trend of decreasing epsilon towards the centres of clusters is evidence for physical effects in clusters causing fast rotator ETGs to have a lower average intrinsic ellipticity near the centres of rich clusters.
As a demonstration of the capabilities of the new Oxford SWIFT integral field spectrograph, we present first observations for a set of 14 early-type galaxies in the core of the Coma cluster. Our data consist of I- and z-band spatially resolved spectr
oscopy obtained with the Oxford SWIFT spectrograph, combined with r-band photometry from the SDSS archive for 14 early- type galaxies. We derive spatially resolved kinematics for all objects from observations of the calcium triplet absorption features at sim 8500 {AA} . Using this kinematic information we classify galaxies as either Fast Rotators or Slow Rotators. We compare the fraction of fast and slow rotators in our sample, representing the densest environment in the nearby Universe, to results from the ATLAS3D survey, finding the slow rotator fraction is sim 50 per cent larger in the core of the Coma cluster than in the Virgo cluster or field, a 1.2 {sigma} increase given our selection criteria. Comparing our sample to the Virgo cluster core only (which is 24 times less dense than the Coma core) we find no evidence of an increase in the slow rotator fraction. Combining measurements of the effective velocity dispersion {sigma_e} with the photometric data we determine the Fundamental Plane for our sample of galaxies. We find the use of the average velocity dispersion within 1 effective radius, {sigma_e}, reduces the residuals by 13 per cent with respect to comparable studies using central velocity dispersions, consistent with other recent integral field Fundamental Plane determinations.
