Bibcode
Trujillo, I.; Carrasco, Eleazar R.; Ferré-Mateu, A.
Referencia bibliográfica
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 751, Issue 1, article id. 45 (2012).
Advertised on:
5
2012
Revista
Número de citas
36
Número de citas referidas
32
Descripción
Using Gemini North telescope ultra-deep and high-resolution
(sub-kiloparsec) K-band adaptive optics imaging of a sample of four
nearby (z ~ 0.15) massive (~1011 M &sun;)
compact (R < 1.5 kpc) galaxies, we have explored the structural
properties of these rare objects with unprecedented detail. Our surface
brightness profiles expand over 12 mag in range allowing us to explore
the presence of any faint extended envelope on these objects down to
stellar mass densities ~106 M &sun;
kpc-2 at radial distances of ~15 kpc. We find no
evidence for any extended faint tail altering the compactness of these
galaxies. Our objects are elongated, visually resembling S0 galaxies,
and have a central stellar mass density well above the stellar mass
densities of objects with similar stellar mass but normal size in the
present universe. If these massive compact objects will eventually
transform into normal size galaxies, the processes driving this size
growth will have to migrate around (2-3) × 1010 M
&sun; stellar mass from their inner (R < 1.7 kpc) region
toward their outskirts. Nearby massive compact galaxies share with
high-z compact massive galaxies not only their stellar mass, size, and
velocity dispersion but also the shape of their profiles and the mean
age of their stellar populations. This makes these singular galaxies
unique laboratories to explore the early stages of the formation of
massive galaxies.
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