Speaker
Description
Understanding the mass assembly of galaxies is one of the big open questions in astronomy. A dynamical analysis of galaxies of the ATLAS3D survey provides new clues about the galaxy evolution process of galaxies as the sample comprises a good mix of fast and slow rotators with very different growing scenarios. Slow rotators are thought to accrete about 50 per cent of their stellar mass from satellite galaxies and their most massive progenitors have on average up to three major mergers during their evolution. Fast rotators in contrast, accrete less than 50 per cent and have on average less than one major merger in their past. But what is the imprint of the different evolutionary scenarios on the mass distribution and intrinsic shape of galaxies?
I will present a detailed dynamical study of the massive fast- and slow-rotator galaxies in the ATLAS3D survey with the Schwarzschild code DYNAMITE, that models galaxies as a superposition of their stellar orbits and colours those orbits with ages and metallicities. Using this full set of observables, I will quantify how tightly we can constrain the intrinsic shape and distribution of the visible and invisible matter in nearby early-type galaxies and relate it with the evolutionary scenarios. Compared to previous studies, triaxial modelling is essential for these galaxies to understand their complex kinematical features. I will conclude the discussion on what we can learn by comparison with dynamical studies of the Milky Way in order to learn about the dark past of galaxies.
| Do you plan to attend the symposium in-person or virtually? | in-person |
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