TY - GEN
T1 - Dwarf elliptical galaxies
T2 - 3rd JENAM Symposium - Dwarf Galaxies: Keys to Galaxy Formation and Evolution, JENAM 2010
AU - Jerjen, Helmut
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Although of humble appearance and often overlooked because of their modest physical sizes and low star densities, dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies revealed themselves as the most common type of galaxies to exist in the Universe today. The recognition of their significance for many areas of near-field cosmology led to a great effort to detail the chemical and physical properties of Local Group dwarf ellipticals and the dE populations in other galaxy aggregates. Only out to the few nearest galaxy clusters the star formation histories, remnant gas and dark matter contents in dEs can be studied with sufficient spatial and velocity resolution to search for possible evolutionary links to giant ellipticals and gasrich late-type (dwarf) galaxies. Dwarf ellipticals exhibit long-lasting star formation episodes with low star formation efficiencies and distinct stellar subpopulations. There is observational evidence for environmentally-driven evolution, stochastic chemical enrichment, and recent blind surveys are beginning to uncover ultra-faint, completely dark matter dominated early-type dwarf satellites in the Milky Way halo, which harbour some of the most metal-poor stars. A diversity we have not seen before.
AB - Although of humble appearance and often overlooked because of their modest physical sizes and low star densities, dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies revealed themselves as the most common type of galaxies to exist in the Universe today. The recognition of their significance for many areas of near-field cosmology led to a great effort to detail the chemical and physical properties of Local Group dwarf ellipticals and the dE populations in other galaxy aggregates. Only out to the few nearest galaxy clusters the star formation histories, remnant gas and dark matter contents in dEs can be studied with sufficient spatial and velocity resolution to search for possible evolutionary links to giant ellipticals and gasrich late-type (dwarf) galaxies. Dwarf ellipticals exhibit long-lasting star formation episodes with low star formation efficiencies and distinct stellar subpopulations. There is observational evidence for environmentally-driven evolution, stochastic chemical enrichment, and recent blind surveys are beginning to uncover ultra-faint, completely dark matter dominated early-type dwarf satellites in the Milky Way halo, which harbour some of the most metal-poor stars. A diversity we have not seen before.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84896466062&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-642-22018-0_15
DO - 10.1007/978-3-642-22018-0_15
M3 - Conference contribution
SN - 9783642220173
T3 - Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings
SP - 133
EP - 149
BT - Dwarf Galaxies
PB - Kluwer Academic Publishers
Y2 - 9 September 2010 through 10 September 2010
ER -