ELLIPTICALS WITH KINEMATICALLY DISTINCT CORES - WFPC1 IMAGING OF NEARBY ELLIPTICALS

Ground-based spectroscopy of nearby ellipticals has revealed many to have cores that are kinematically distinct from the rest of the galaxy. Spectroscopic line analysis suggests that these kinematically distinct cores form a disk-like structure. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain such cores. Here we present high resolution WFPC1 imaging of several kinematically distinct core galaxies to probe the relevant spatial scales and to search for a photometric counterpart to the kinematic component. Six of the eight galaxies examined here show clear indications of small-scale dust. This dust may be directly linked to the existence of nuclear radio activity in these galaxies. Due to the ubiquitous dust, it is difficult to detect photometric disks in most of our galaxies. The shape of the surface brightness profiles are similar to those seen in other "kinematically normal" ellipticals observed by HST. The derived density profiles are somewhat higher than those for compact, low luminosity galaxies. The fact that the surface density profiles are normal argues against formation scenarios in which small galaxies fall into big galaxies and dominate the light in the core region. Simulations with realistic density profiles and possible black holes would be valuable.