Early-type galaxies: Elliptical and S0 galaxies, or fast and slow rotators

Chapter in Encyclopedia of Astrophysics, (2025) V4-152

Abstract:

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) show a bimodal distribution in key structural properties like stellar specific angular momentum, kinematic morphology, shape, and nuclear surface brightness profiles. Slow rotator ETGs, mostly found in the densest regions of galaxy clusters, become common when the stellar mass exceeds a critical value of around M∗crit≈2×1011M⊙, or more precisely when lg(Re/kpc)≳12.4−lg(M∗/M⊙). These galaxies have low specific angular momentum, spheroidal shapes, and stellar populations that are old, metal-rich, and α-enhanced. In contrast, fast rotator ETGs form a continuous sequence of properties with spiral galaxies. In these galaxies, the age, metallicity, and α-enhancement of the stellar population correlate best with the effective stellar velocity dispersion σe∝M∗/Re (i.e., properties are similar for Re∝M∗), or with other proxies approximating their bulge mass fraction. This sequence spans from star-forming spiral disks to quenched, passive, spheroid-dominated fast rotator ETGs. Notably, at a fixed σe, younger galaxies show lower metallicity. The structural differences and environmental distributions of ETGs suggest two distinct formation pathways: slow rotators undergo early intense star formation followed by rapid quenching via their dark halos and supermassive black holes, and later evolve through dry mergers during hierarchical cluster assembly; fast rotators, on the other hand, develop more gradually through gas accretion and minor mergers, becoming quenched by internal feedback above a characteristic lg(σecrit/km s−1) ≳ 2.3 (in the local Universe) or due to environmental effects.

Massive black holes and their galaxies

Chapter in Encyclopedia of Astrophysics, (2025) V4-209

Authors:

RS Beckmann, RJ Smethurst

Abstract:

Almost every galaxy in the local Universe is observed to have a massive black hole in the center. The properties of these black holes are observed to tightly correlate with those of their host galaxy which has been interpreted as coevolution regulated by black hole feedback. This coevolution spans most of cosmic history, as the first active black holes, so-called active galactic nuclei, are already observed as early as z∌10. In this chapter, we lay out how we can find supermassive black holes, review what we know about the population of black holes and their host galaxies from observations, and summarize what we have learned about their coevolution across cosmic time from both observations and simulations.

Universal bimodality in kinematic morphology and the divergent pathways to galaxy quenching

Nature Astronomy Springer Nature 9:1 (2025) 165-174

Authors:

Bitao Wang, Yingjie Peng, Michele Cappellari

Dense gas scaling relations at kiloparsec scales across nearby galaxies with the ALMA ALMOND and IRAM 30 m EMPIRE surveys

Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences 693 (2025) l13

Authors:

Lukas Neumann, MarĂ­a J JimĂ©nez-Donaire, Adam K Leroy, Frank Bigiel, Antonio Usero, Jiayi Sun, Eva Schinnerer, Miguel Querejeta, Sophia K Stuber, Ivana BeĆĄlić, Ashley Barnes, Jakob den Brok, Yixian Cao, Cosima Eibensteiner, Hao He, Ralf S Klessen, Fu-Heng Liang, Daizhong Liu, Hsi-An Pan, Thomas G Williams

JWST/NIRSpec insights into the circumnuclear region of Arp 220: A detailed kinematic study

Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences 693 (2025) a36

Authors:

Lorenzo Ulivi, Michele Perna, Isabella Lamperti, Santiago Arribas, Giovanni Cresci, Cosimo Marconcini, Bruno RodrĂ­guez Del Pino, Torsten Böker, Andrew J Bunker, Matteo Ceci, StĂ©phane Charlot, Francesco D’Eugenio, Katja Fahrion, Roberto Maiolino, Alessandro Marconi, Miguel Pereira-Santaella