The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Toward a Unified Dynamical Scaling Relation for Galaxies of All Types

Abstract

We take advantage of the first data from the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field Galaxy Survey to investigate the relation between the kinematics of gas and stars, and stellar mass in a comprehensive sample of nearby galaxies. We find that all 235 objects in our sample, regardless of their morphology, lie on a tight relation linking stellar mass (M $_*$) to internal velocity quantified by the S $_0.5$ parameter, which combines the contribution of both dispersion (σ) and rotational velocity (V $_rot$) to the dynamical support of a galaxy (S$_0.5$=sqrt0.5 V_rot$^2$+σ $^2$). Our results are independent of the baryonic component from which σ and V $_rot$ are estimated, as the S $_0.5$ of stars and gas agree remarkably well. This represents a significant improvement compared to the canonical M $_*$ versus V $_rot$ and M $_*$ versus σ relations. Not only is no sample pruning necessary, but also stellar and gas kinematics can be used simultaneously, as the effect of asymmetric drift is taken into account once V $_rot$ and σ are combined. Our findings illustrate how the combination of dispersion and rotational velocities for both gas and stars can provide us with a single dynamical scaling relation valid for galaxies of all morphologies across at least the stellar mass range 8.5 <log (M $_*$/M $_☉$) < 11. Such relation appears to be more general and at least as tight as any other dynamical scaling relation, representing a unique tool for investigating the link between galaxy kinematics and baryonic content, and a less biased comparison with theoretical models.

Publication
Astrophysical Journal Letters

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