  NGC5018, one of the weakest UV emitters among giant ellipticals (gE) observed
with IUE, appears to consist of an optical stellar population very similar to
that of the compact, dwarf elliptical M32, which is several magnitudes fainter
in luminosity than NGC5018 and whose stellar population is know to be ~3 Gyr
old. Here we show that the mid-UV spectra of these two galaxies are also very
similar down to an angular scale hundreds times smaller than the IUE large
aperture (as probed by HST/FOS UV spectra obtained through 0.86 arcsec
apertures). This implies a reasonably close match of the populations dominating
their mid-UV light (namely, their main-sequence turnoff stars). These data
indicate that NGC5018 has, in its inner regions, a rather uniform dominance of
a ~3 Gyr-old stellar population, probably a bit different in metallicity from
M32. Combined with the various structures that indicate that NGC5018 is the
result of a recent major merger, it appears that almost all of stars we see in
its center regions were formed about 3 Gyr ago, in that merger event. NGC5018
is likely the older brother of NGC7252, the canonical gE-in-formation merger.
As such, NGC5018 is perhaps the best galaxy which can tell us how a merger
works, after the fireworks subside, to form a gE galaxy today. For this reason
alone, the stellar populations in NGC5018 at all radii are worth studying in
detail.
