In the context of modified Newtonian dynamics, the fundamental plane, as the observational signature of the Newtonian virial theorem, is defined by high surface brightness objects that deviate from being purely isothermal: the line-of-sight velocity dispersion should slowly decline with radius as observed in luminous elliptical galaxies. All high surface brightness objects (e.g. globular clusters, ultra-compact dwarfs) will lie, more or less, on the fundamental plane defined by elliptical galaxies, but low surface brightness objects (dwarf spheroidals) would be expected to deviate from this relation. This is borne out by observations. With MOND, the Faber-Jackson relation (the power-law relation between luminosity and velocity dispersion), ranging from globular clusters to clusters of galaxies and including both high and low surface brightness objects, is the more fundamental and universal scaling relation in spite of its larger scatter. Faber-Jackson reflects the presence of an additional dimensional constant (the MOND acceleration) in the structure equation
The mass distribution in Spirals
In the past years a wealth of observations has unraveled the structural properties of the Dark and Luminous mass distribution in spirals. These have pointed out to an intriguing scenario not easily explained by present theories of galaxy formation. The investigation of individual and coadded objects has shown that the spiral rotation curves follow, from their centers out to their virial radii, a Universal profile (URC) that arises from the tuned combination of a stellar disk and of a dark halo. The importance of the latter component decreases with galaxy mass. Individual objects, on the other hand, have clearly revealed that the dark halos encompassing the luminous discs have a constant density core. This resulting observational scenario poses important challenges to presently favored theoretical
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