2011/04/30 by Caroline Foster, Lee R. Spitler, Aaron J. Romanowsky +7
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Dwarf galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Galaxy rotation curve #Globular cluster #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Surface brightness #Tully–Fisher relation #astro-ph.CO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18965.x
23 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 2011/05/02 · openalex publication_date 2011/06/16 · arxiv updated 2015/05/28 · openalex created_date 2021/02/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a comprehensive analysis of the spatial, kinematic and chemical properties of stars and globular clusters (GCs) in the 'ordinary' elliptical galaxy NGC 4494 using data from the Keck and Subaru telescopes. We derive galaxy surface brightness and colour profiles out to large galactocentric radii. We compare the latter to metallicities derived using the nearinfrared Calcium Triplet. We obtain stellar kinematics out to 3.5 effective radii. The latter appear flattened or elongated beyond 1.8 effective radii in contrast to the relatively round photometric isophotes. In fact, NGC 4494 may be a flattened galaxy, possibly even an S0, seen at an inclination of 45 . We publish a catalogue of 431 GC candidates brighter than i 0 = 24 based on the photometry, of which 109 are confirmed spectroscopically and 54 have measured spectroscopic metallicities. We also report the discovery of three spectroscopically confirmed ultra-compact dwarfs around NGC 4494 with measured metallicities of -0.4