Issue |
EAS Publications Series
Volume 24, 2007
CRAL-2006. Chemodynamics: From First Stars to Local Galaxies
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Page(s) | 287 - 288 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/eas:2007041 | |
Published online | 21 April 2007 |
E. Emsellem, H. Wozniak, G. Massacrier, J.-F. Gonzalez, J. Devriendt and N. Champavert (eds)
EAS Publications Series, 24 (2007) 287-288
Simulating the Flattening – Metallicity Relation of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies
1
School of Physics and Astronomy, University
of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
2
Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, 9000
Ghent, Belgium
Corresponding author: dolf.michielsen@nottingham.ac.uk
Elliptical galaxies follow a well-known luminosity – metallicity (L − Z) relation, in the sense that more luminous ellipticals are observed to be more metal-rich than less luminous systems. Obviously this is a mass – Z relation, and its interpretation is that less massive galaxies had more significant outflows of metal-enriched gas at an early evolutionary stage. The apparent ellipticity (ϵ) had already been invoked to explain the large scatter in the L − Z relation, but Barazza & Binggeli (2002) observed that the relation between Z and ϵ in cluster dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) could even be stronger than the relation with mass. The idea is that outflow of metal-enriched gas preferentially occurs along the minor axis, making ϵ a critical parameter for Z in dwarfs. Here, we test this hypothesis using high-resolution N-body/SPH simulations including chemical feedback of dEs with different flattenings.
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2007