Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/225325

Title

The ATLAS3D project V: the CO Tully-Fisher relation of early-type galaxies

Author(s)

Davis, Timothy A.;  Bureau, Martin;  Young, Lisa M.;  Alatalo, Katherine;  Blitz, Leo;  Cappellari, Michele;  Scott, Nicholas;  Bois, Maxime;  Bournaud, Frederic;  Davies, Roger L.;  de Zeeuw, P. Tim;  Emsellem, Eric;  Khochfar, Sadegh;  Krajnovic, Davor;  Kuntschner, Harald;  Lablanche, Pierre-Yves;  McDermid, Richard M.;  Morganti, Raffaella;  Naab, Thorsten;  Oosterloo, Tom;  Sarzi, Marc;  Serra, Paolo;  Weijmans, Anne-Marie

Abstract

We demonstrate here using both single-dish and interferometric observations that CO molecules are an excellent kinematic tracer, even in high-mass galaxies, allowing us to investigate for the first time the CO Tully-Fisher relation (CO-TFR) of early-type galaxies. We compare the TFRs produced using both single-dish and interferometric data and various inclination estimation methods, and evaluate the use of the velocity profile shape as a criterion for selecting galaxies in which the molecular gas extends beyond the peak of the rotation curve. We show that the gradient and zero-point of the best-fitting relations are robust, independent of the velocity measure and inclination used, and agree with those of relations derived using stellar kinematics. We also show that the early-type CO-TFR is offset from the CO-TFR of spirals by 0.98 ± 0.22 mag at Ks band, in line with other results. The intrinsic scatter of the relation is found to be ≈0.4 mag, similar to the level found in the spiral galaxy population. Next-generation facilities such as the Large Millimeter Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array should allow this technique to be used in higher redshift systems, providing a simple new tool to trace the mass-to-light ratio evolution of the most massive galaxies over cosmic time.

Publication type

Journal article

Source

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 414, no. 2 (Jun 2011), pp. 968-984

Publication year

2011

FOR Code(s)

0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences

Keyword(s)

ATLAS3D;  cD galaxies;  Elliptical and lenticular galaxies;  Galaxy evolution;  Galaxy kinematics and dynamics;  Galaxy structure;  ISM;  Spiral galaxies

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

ISSN

1365-2966

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18284.x

Copyright

Copyright © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation copyright © 2011 Royal Astronomical Society.

Peer reviewed