I hope this helps answer your question!

[taylrl3]

Hi,

I'm wondering how S0 type galaxies form. I heard that it may be due to an end to star formation and a supposed resultant instability in the disk. Does anyone know about this or might be able to point me towards some relevant papers?

Thanks :-)

 

[Chronos]

Canabalizing other galaxies is the short answer.

 

[taylrl3]

Thanks.

So what differentiates them from ellipticals? What sort of mass do they typically have too?

 

[dnam]

S0 galaxies are essentially the transition point in galaxy evolution. These galaxies are found in cluster environments where they are subject to a variety of mechanisms that serve to remove the cold gas reservoir of the galaxy. These mechanisms (strangulation, harassment, tidal stripping, ram-pressure stripping) all serve to halt star formation in what was once a star-forming (late-type) galaxy, and evolve it into an early-type galaxy.

An example from the theorist's perspective (the issue here is that models produce satellite galaxies that are too red, as the star formation quenching is too efficient ) can be found here:

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008MNRAS.383..593M

Whilst the a more observational approach (using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey) can be found here:

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003MNRAS.346..601G