Overview: Low-z Observations of Interacting and Merging Galaxies

dc.creatorSchweizer, Francois
dc.date1997-12-01
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:25:27Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:25:27Z
dc.descriptionGravitational interactions and mergers affect the morphologies and dynamics of galaxies from our Local Group to the limits of the observable universe. Observations of interacting galaxies at low redshifts (z < 0.2) yield detailed information about many of the processes at work. I briefly review these processes and the growing evidence that mergers play a major role in the delayed formation of elliptical and early-type disk galaxies both in the field and in clusters. Low-z observations clearly contradict the notion of a single epoch of E formation at z > 2; instead, E and S0 galaxies continue forming to the present. The different rates of E and S0 formation inferred from observations of distant and nearby clusters may partially reflect the dependence of dynamical friction on mass: Major, E-forming mergers may tend to occur earlier than minor, S0-forming mergers because the dynamical friction is strongest for equal-mass galaxies.
dc.description10 pages, including 1 EPS figure, LaTeX, uses crckapb.sty and epsf.sty. To appear in proceedings of IAU Symp. 186, "Galaxy Interactions at Low and High Redshift", ed. D.B. Sanders (Kluwer, Dordrecht), 1998
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9712017
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9712017
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/11880
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleOverview: Low-z Observations of Interacting and Merging Galaxies
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