2003/08/20 by G. Wegner, M. Bernardi, Mariangela Bernardi +10 · 1 citation
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Elliptical galaxy #Fundamental plane (elliptical galaxies) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Geometry #Homogeneous #Lenticular galaxy #Line (geometry) #Mathematics #Physics #Redshift #Sky #Statistical physics #Surface brightness fluctuation #Universe #Velocity dispersion #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/378959
published as Astron.J.126:2268,2003 · 179 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Full tables 4 and 5 start on page 41
arxiv created 2003/08/20 · openalex publication_date 2003/11/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We present central velocity dispersions and Mg 2 line indices for an all-sky sample of ∼1178 elliptical and S0 galaxies, of which 984 had no previous measures. This sample contains the largest set of homogeneous spectroscopic data for a uniform sample of elliptical galaxies in the nearby universe. These galaxies were observed as part of the ENEAR project, designed to study the peculiar motions and internal properties of the local early-type galaxies. Using 523 repeated observations of 317 galaxies obtained during different runs, the data are brought to a common zero point. These multiple observations, taken during the many runs and different instrumental setups employed for this project, are used to derive statistical corrections to the data and are found to be relatively small, typically ≲5% of the velocity dispersion and 0.01 mag in the Mg 2 line strength. Typical errors are about 8% in velocity dispersion and 0.01 mag in Mg 2 , in good agreement with values published elsewhere.