Luminosity Profiles of Merger Remnants

dc.creatorHibbard, J. E.
dc.creatorYun, Min S.
dc.date1999-04-02
dc.date1999-07-18
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:31:06Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:31:06Z
dc.descriptionUsing published luminosity and molecular gas profiles of the late-stage mergers NGC 3921, NGC 7252 and Arp 220, we examine the expected luminosity profiles of the evolved merger remnants, especially in light of the massive CO complexes that are observed in their nuclei. For NGC 3921 and NGC 7252 we predict that the resulting luminosity profiles will be characterized by an r^{1/4} law. In view of previous optical work on these systems, it seems likely that they will evolve into normal ellipticals as regards their optical properties. Due to a much higher central molecular column density, Arp 220 might not evolve such a ``seamless'' light profile. We conclude that ultraluminous infrared mergers such as Arp 220 either evolve into ellipticals with anomalous luminosity profiles, or do not produce many low-mass stars out of their molecular gas complexes.
dc.descriptionFinal refereed version. Note new title. 4 pages, 2 encapsulated color figures, uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted to ApJL. Also available at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~jhibbard/Remnants/remnants.html
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9904030
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9904030
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/14044
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleLuminosity Profiles of Merger Remnants
dc.typetext

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