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Stellar Populations of Elliptical Galaxies in Virgo Cluster I. : The Data and Stellar Population Analysis

Y. Yamada, N. Arimoto, A. Vazdekis, R. F. Peletier

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/0511122

Abstract

We have determined spectroscopic ages of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster using spectra of very high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N/A > 100). We observed 8 galaxies with the Subaru Telescope and have combined this sample with 6 galaxies previously observed with the WHT. To determine their ages we have used a new method based on the Hgammasigma age indicator, which is virtually independent of the effects of metallicity. Apart from ages we have estimated abundances of various elements. In this paper we present the observations, the data reduction and the reliability of the Hgammasigma method. The results of this investigation are presented in a companion paper (Yamada et al. 2006).

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