The kinematics of Core and Cusp galaxies: comparing HST imaging and integral-field observations

TL;DR

This study compares the nuclear photometric properties and overall kinematics of early-type galaxies using HST imaging and SAURON integral-field data, revealing correlations between galaxy mass, rotation class, and inner profile slope.

Contribution

It introduces a comparison between photometric inner slope and kinematic classes, highlighting the relationship between galaxy mass, rotation, and inner structure.

Findings

Slow rotators are generally more massive and have shallower inner profiles.

Fast rotators tend to have steeper inner profiles.

No strict one-to-one correspondence exists between photometric and kinematic classifications.

Abstract

In this proceeding we look at the relationship between the photometric nuclear properties of early-type galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope imaging and their overall kinematics as observed with the SAURON integral-field spectrograph. We compare the inner slope of their photometric profiles and the Slow/Fast rotator classes, defined by the amplitude of a newly defined LambdaR parameter, to show that slow rotators tend to be more massive systems and display shallower inner profiles and fast rotators steper ones. It is important to remark, however, that there is not a one-to-one relationship between the two photometric and kinematic groups.