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We rederive the relation between the specific angular momentum j_* and the mass M_* of the stellar matter in galaxies of different morphological types. This is a revision of the j_*--M_* diagram presented in our recent comprehensive study of galactic angular momentum. In that work, we estimated j_* from kinematic and photometric data that extended to large radii and M_* from near-infrared luminosities LK with an assumed universal mass-to-light ratio M_*/LK. However, recent stellar population models show large variations in M_*/LK correlated with B-V color. In the present work, we use this correlation to estimate M_*/LK and hence M_* from the measured B-V and LK. Our revised j_*--M_* diagram is similar to our previous one; both disk-dominated and elliptical galaxies follow nearly parallel sequences with j_* M_*^\ and = 0. 6 +/- 0. 1. However, the offset between the sequences is now a factor of about 5, some 30% larger than before (and close to the offset found by Fall in 1983). Thus, our new results place even tighter constraints on the loss of specific angular momentum by galactic disks over their lifetimes.
Fall et al. (Tue,) studied this question.