A photometric study of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster

Abstract

A photometric study is carried out for a sample of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster. These include dwarf ellipticals (dEs), nucleated dwarf ellipticals (dE(N)s), and dwarf lenticulars (dS0s). The color-magnitude relations (CMRs) of these types are studied in various photometric passbands. The CMR slope and scatter of dEs and dE(N)s are found to be very similar, indicating having similar origins. However, the CMR of dS0s are found to be steeper and tighter than those of dEs and dE(N)s, which indicate that dS0s have different stellar populations, with the existence of star formation activity.