Conclusions

We have presented HI images of the gas-rich elliptical galaxy NGC 5266. We find that the gas in this galaxy lies in two orthogonal planes; some HI is associated with an inner, minor-axis dust lane but the majority lies in an extended, outer distribution aligned with the stellar major axis. Using this outer component as a mass tracer, we find a mass to-light ratio within 4R, which is similar to that derived for other ellipticals at similar radii and suggests the presence of dark matter. The most likely origin for this gas in NGC 5266 appears to be the merger of two gas-rich spirals, and the settled nature of the gas suggests that this probably occurred at least 1.2Gyr ago.

© Copyright Astronomical Society of Australia 1997