Dust Effects on Kinematic Models of Ellipticals

Abstract: The majority of elliptical galaxies is believed to contain interstellar dust, particularly in the innermost regions. We have investigated the effects of a diffuse dust component on the observed kinematics of spherical galaxies, and modelled dusty observables as if no dust were present. We find that the total mass and the orbital structure of the best fitting models differ considerably from the input models, primarily due to the changes in the observed light profile. We argue that dust should therefore be taken into account in the modelling procedure.