Space
How Giant Elliptical Galaxies Move Slowly but Surely
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Sep 13, 2014 08:30 AM EDT
Elliptical galaxies have long been considered as being made up of old stars that move randomly within them. Now, though, scientists have taken a closer look at giant elliptical galaxies and have made some new findings when it comes to how they move.
In order to get a better view of these elliptical galaxies, the researchers used the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) facility. They examined the giant elliptical galaxy M87 (NGC4486), which is the central galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxy. They found that this galaxy actually displays some bulk rotation at a very low amplitude.
In fact, the researchers found that the stars of M87 can move around its center with average velocities of just 10 to 20 km/s. This is equivalent to about 36,000 to 72,000 km/hr. While this speed may seem rapid, though, it's actually very slow when it comes to galaxies.
"For instance, the sun and our closest stars in the disk of the Milky Way rotate together around the center of the galaxy at approximately 210-240 km/s," said Marc Sarzi, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The individual stars of M87 can go even faster than this, but they generally travel in different directions at any given point of the galaxy so that coherently they rotate around the center at a much slower pace. By showing that a 'simple' galaxy like M87 can be quite complicated in the eyes of the new MUSE spectrograph, this result demonstrates the potential of this new instrument for further advancing our understanding of galaxies, and their formation."
The findings reveal that large elliptical galaxies actually display bulk rotation, even if they're doing it slowly. More specifically, it shows that the new instrument at the VLT facility has the potential to make further discoveries when it comes to how our universe interacts and functions.
The findings are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.
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First Posted: Sep 13, 2014 08:30 AM EDT
Elliptical galaxies have long been considered as being made up of old stars that move randomly within them. Now, though, scientists have taken a closer look at giant elliptical galaxies and have made some new findings when it comes to how they move.
In order to get a better view of these elliptical galaxies, the researchers used the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) facility. They examined the giant elliptical galaxy M87 (NGC4486), which is the central galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxy. They found that this galaxy actually displays some bulk rotation at a very low amplitude.
In fact, the researchers found that the stars of M87 can move around its center with average velocities of just 10 to 20 km/s. This is equivalent to about 36,000 to 72,000 km/hr. While this speed may seem rapid, though, it's actually very slow when it comes to galaxies.
"For instance, the sun and our closest stars in the disk of the Milky Way rotate together around the center of the galaxy at approximately 210-240 km/s," said Marc Sarzi, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The individual stars of M87 can go even faster than this, but they generally travel in different directions at any given point of the galaxy so that coherently they rotate around the center at a much slower pace. By showing that a 'simple' galaxy like M87 can be quite complicated in the eyes of the new MUSE spectrograph, this result demonstrates the potential of this new instrument for further advancing our understanding of galaxies, and their formation."
The findings reveal that large elliptical galaxies actually display bulk rotation, even if they're doing it slowly. More specifically, it shows that the new instrument at the VLT facility has the potential to make further discoveries when it comes to how our universe interacts and functions.
The findings are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone