Abstract
Motivated by the finding that the observed surface brightness profiles of many galactic nuclei are fitted well by double power laws, we explore a range of spherical self-consistent dynamical models with this light profile. We, find that the corresponding deprojected volume density profile, phase-space density and line-of-sight velocity distribution of these models are fitted well by simple analytic approximations. We illustrate the application of these models by fitting a sample of approximately 25 galactic nuclei observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Without a central black hole and strong anisotropy the models generally predict a negligibly small kurtosis parameter k(4). These models with a simple distribution function are suited to seed N-body simulations of galactic nuclei with realistic density profiles for studying the evolution of these systems.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 525-537 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Volume | 287 |
Issue number | 3 |
Publication status | Published - 21 May 1997 |
Keywords
- line, profiles
- methods, analytical
- galaxies, kinematics and dynamics
- galaxies, nuclei
- SELF-CONSISTENT MODELS
- SPHERICAL GALAXIES
- ELLIPTIC GALAXIES
- STELLAR-SYSTEMS
- PROFILES
- FAMILY
- BULGES