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Forming bulges during galaxy minor mergers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2007

T. J. Cox
Affiliation:
Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: tcox@cfa.harvard.edu
J. Younger
Affiliation:
Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: tcox@cfa.harvard.edu
L. Hernquist
Affiliation:
Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: tcox@cfa.harvard.edu
P. F. Hopkins
Affiliation:
Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: tcox@cfa.harvard.edu
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Abstract

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The hierarchical formation of structure suggests that dark halos, and the galaxies they host, are shaped by their merging history. While the idea that mergers between galaxies of equal mass, i.e., major merger, produce elliptical galaxies has received considerable attention, he galaxies that result from minor merger, i.e., mergers between galaxies with a large mass ratio, is much less understood. We have performed a large number of numerical simulations of minor mergers, including cooling, star formation, and black hole growth in order to study this process in more detail. This talk will present some preliminary results of this study, and in particular, the morphology and kinematics of minor merger remnants.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

References

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