# A Population of Compact Elliptical Galaxies Detected with the Virtual Observatory

## TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of 21 compact elliptical galaxies using the Virtual Observatory, supporting their formation through tidal stripping, with properties matching numerical simulations.

## Contribution

First large sample of compact elliptical galaxies identified and characterized, providing evidence for their formation via tidal stripping.

## Key findings

- Galaxies exhibit old, metal-rich stellar populations.
- Properties align with numerical simulations of tidal stripping.
- Supports the tidal stripping formation scenario.

## Abstract

Compact elliptical galaxies are characterized by small sizes and high stellar densities. They are thought to form through tidal stripping of massive progenitors. However, only a handful of them were known, preventing us from understanding the role played by this mechanism in galaxy evolution. We present a population of 21 compact elliptical galaxies gathered with the Virtual Observatory. Follow-up spectroscopy and data mining, using high-resolution images and large databases, show that all the galaxies exhibit old metal-rich stellar populations different from those of dwarf elliptical galaxies of similar masses but similar to those of more massive early-type galaxies, supporting the tidal stripping scenario. Their internal properties are reproduced by numerical simulations, which result in compact dynamically hot remnants resembling the galaxies in our sample.