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J. D. Silge, K. Gebhardt (Univ. of Texas Austin)
We have combined new stellar kinematic measurements with the photometry of 2MASS to build the first all-infrared Fundamental Plane (FP). We use the near infrared CO bandhead at 2.29 microns to measure the stellar kinematics of a sample of nearby elliptical galaxies. Combined with K-band imaging of these galaxies available from 2MASS, we examine the tight relationship among the structural and kinematic properties of galaxies known as the FP. The FP provides important clues and constraints for how galaxies form and evolve (i.e. evolution of FP with redshift, galaxy type, etc.). However, its current incarnations based on visible-wavelength data may suffer from problems of bias and/or internal extinction due to dust. The FP is known to vary with observational passband in visible wavelengths. Using infrared wavelengths allows us to observe galaxies selected against by normal kinematic methods, reduce effects from young stellar populations, and look through the dust to gain a more accurate understanding of the kinematics of these galaxies. This technique is also well-suited to placing the bulges of later-type galaxies on the FP.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.