Made-to-measure galaxy models - II. Elliptical and lenticular galaxies

Abstract

We take a sample of 24 elliptical and lenticular galaxies previously analysed by the SAURON project using three integral dynamical models created with Schwarzschild method, and re-analyse them using the made-to-measure (M2M) method of dynamical modelling. We obtain good agreement between the two methods in determining the dynamical mass-to-light ratios (M/L values) for the galaxies with over 80 percent of ratios differing by <10 percent and over 95 percent differing by <20 percent. We show that For the global velocity dispersion anisotropy parameter δ, we find similar values but with fewer of the M2M models tangentially anisotropic by comparison with their SAURON Schwarzschild counterparts. Our investigation is the largest comparative application of the M2M method to date. © 2012 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS.