Publication: NGC 4261 and NGC 4697: Rejuvenated Elliptical Galaxies
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2003
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American Astronomical Society
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Zezas, A., L. Hernquist, G. Fabbiano, and J. Miller. 2003. “NGC 4261 and NGC 4697: Rejuvenated Elliptical Galaxies.” The Astrophysical Journal 599 (2): L73–77. https://doi.org/10.1086/380895.
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Abstract
Chandra images present evidence of a nonuniform spatial distribution of discrete X-ray sources in the elliptical galaxy NGC 4261. This nonuniform distribution is inconsistent with the optical morphology of NGC 4261 at greater than a 99.9% confidence level. Similar evidence is seen in one more elliptical galaxy (NGC 4697; 98% confidence level) out of five cases we investigated. NGC 4261 and NGC 4697 have old stellar populations (9-15 Gyr) and fine-structure parameters of 1 and 0, respectively, suggesting that no recent merging activity occurred. On the basis of simulations of galaxy interactions, we propose that the X-ray sources responsible for the nonuniform distribution are associated with young stellar populations, related to the rejuvenating fallback of material in tidal tails onto a relaxed merger remnant or to shock-induced star formation along the tidal tails.
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