Lost and found dark matter in elliptical galaxies

F. Stoehr*, G. A. Mamon, A. Dekel, T. J. Cox

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The kinematical properties of elliptical galaxies formed during the mergers of equal mass, stars+gas+dark matter spiral galaxies are compared to the observed low velocity dispersions found for planetary nebulae on the outskirts of ellipticals, which have been interpreted as pointing to a lack of dark matter in ellipticals (which poses a problem for the standard model of galaxy formation). We find that the velocity dispersion profiles of the stars in the simulated ellipticals match well the observed ones. The low outer stellar velocity dispersions are mainly caused by the radial orbits of the outermost stars, which, for a given binding energy must have low angular momentum to reach their large radial distances, usually driven out along tidal tails.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication21st IAP Colloquium Mass Profiles and Shapes of Cosmological Structures
Pages135-138
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006
Event21st IAP Colloquium Mass Profiles and Shapes of Cosmological Structures - Paris, France
Duration: 4 Jul 20059 Jul 2005

Publication series

NameEAS Publications Series
Volume20
ISSN (Print)1633-4760

Conference

Conference21st IAP Colloquium Mass Profiles and Shapes of Cosmological Structures
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityParis
Period4/07/059/07/05

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