We have searched halo fields of two giant elliptical galaxies: M87, using HST images at 10 kpc from the galactic center, and NGC 5128 (Cen A), using VIMOS VLT images at 65 kpc from the center and archival HST data from 8 to 38 kpc from the center. We have resolved thousands of red-giant-branch (RGB) stars in these stellar halo fields using V and I filters, and, in addition, measured the metallicity using stellar isochrones. The metallicity distribution function (MDF) of the inner stellar halo of M87 is similar to that of NGC 5128's stellar halo.

At the center of the nearest galaxy cluster, the Virgo cluster, lies the massive cD galaxy, M87 (NGC 4486). Using data from the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey, we investigate the relationship between M87, its globular clusters (GCs), and satellite dwarf galaxies. We find that the kinematics of GCs and ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs) are different, indicating that UCDs are not simply massive GCs. We also identify a morphological sequence of envelope fraction around UCDs correlated with cluster-centric distance that suggest UCDs are the result of tidal stripping. Lastly, we find that the [α/Fe] abundance ratios of low-mass early-type galaxies in Virgo exhibit a strong negative gradient within ~ 400 kpc of M87, where the galaxies closest to M87 have the highest values. These satellite galaxies are likely the surviving counterparts of accreted dwarfs that contribute stars to the metal-poor, α-rich stellar halos of massive galaxies. Together, these results describe a dense environment that has had a strong and continuing impact on the evolution of its low-mass neighbors.

The interstellar medium in galactic halos is described as a consequence of feedback mechanisms from processes related to star-formation in the disk. The presence of gas in galactic halos is also expected due to accretion of gas from the circumgalactic environment. The observational evidence for gas in galactic halos - from the hot X-ray emitting coronal phase to cool molecular gas and dust - is reviewed and discussed in the context of current models of the ISM and the “infall vs. outflow“ debate.

We explore the connection between the central supermassive blackholes (SMBH) in galaxies and the dark matter halo through the relation between the masses of the SMBHs and the maximum circular velocities of their host galaxies, as well as the relationship between stellar velocity dispersion of the spheroidal component and the circular velocity. We rely on a heterogeneous sample containing galaxies of all types. The only requirement is that the galaxy has direct measurements of its SMBH mass, MBH, circular velocity, vc, and velocity dispersion, σ. We present a direct observational MBH − vc relation.

The Galactic halo is unlikely built up from galaxy populations similar to the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph's) in the Local Group, but it is possible that the halo was formed by accreted dwarf galaxies that had much larger mass and higher star formation rates such as the Saggitarius dSph. Cosmological simulations show that dSph galaxies formed via hierarchical clustering of numerous smaller building blocks. Stars formed at the galaxy centre tend to form from metal-rich infall gas, which builds up the metallicity gradients. Infalling gas has larger rotational velocity and smaller velocity dispersion due to the dissipative processes, resulting the two distinct old stellar populations of different chemical and kinematic properties, which are recently discovered in the Sculptor dSph galaxy.