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Disk growth in bulge-dominated galaxies: molecular gas and morphological evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2007

Lisa Young
Affiliation:
Physics Department, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801, USA email: lyoung@physics.nmt.edu
Martin Bureau
Affiliation:
Sub-department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
Alison Crocker
Affiliation:
Sub-department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
Francoise Combes
Affiliation:
Obervatoire de Paris, LERMA, 61 Av. de l'Observatoire, 75014, Paris, France
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Abstract

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Substantial numbers of morphologically regular early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies contain molecular gas, and the quantities of gas are probably sufficient to explain recent estimates of the current level of star formation activity. This gas can also be used as a tracer of the processes that drive the evolution of early-type galaxies. For example, in most cases the gas is forming dynamically cold stellar disks with sizes in the range of hundreds of pc to more than one kpc, although there is typically only 1% of the total stellar mass currently available to form young stars. The numbers are still small, but the molecular kinematics indicate that some of the gas probably originated from internal stellar mass loss while some was acquired from outside. Future studies will help to quantify the role of molecular gas (dissipational processes) in the formation of early-type galaxies and their evolution along the red sequence.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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