A sample of edge-on spiral galaxies aimed at a study of the main structural and photometric parameters of edge-on galaxies both of early and late types is presented. The data were taken from the 2MASS in the J, H and K_s filters. The sample consists of 175 galaxies in the K_s-filter, 169 galaxies in the H-filter and 165 galaxies in the J-filter. We present bulge and disc decompositions of each galaxy image. All galaxies have been modelled with a Sersic bulge and exponential disc with the BUDDA v2.1 package.
The main conclusions of our general statistical analysis of the sample are:
(1) The distribution of the apparent bulge axis ratio q_b for the subsample with n < 2 can be attributed to triaxial, nearly prolate bulges that are seen from different projections, while n > 2 bulges seem to be oblate spheroids with moderate flattening.
(2) For the sample galaxies, the effective radius of the bulge r_{e,b}, the disc scalelength h and the disc scaleheight z_0 are well correlated. However, there is a clear trend for the ratio r_{e,b}/h to increase with n.
(3) There is a hint that the fundamental planes of discs, which links only disc parameters and the maximum rotational velocity of gas, are different for galaxies with different bulges.
(4) The investigation of the Photometric Plane of sample bulges shows that the plane is not flat and has a prominent curvature towards small values of n. For bulges this fact was not noticed earlier.
(5) The clear relation between the flattening of stellar discs h/z_0 and the relative mass of a spherical component, including a dark halo, is confirmed not for bulgeless galaxies but for galaxies with massive bulges. (Abridged)
While spiral galaxies observed from Earth clearly seem to spin in different directions, little is yet known about other differences between galaxies that spin clockwise and galaxies that spin counterclockwise. Here we compared the color of 64,399 spiral galaxies that spin clockwise to 63,215 spiral galaxies that spin counterclockwise. The results show that clockwise galaxies tend to be bluer than galaxies that spin counterclockwise. The probability that the color differences can be attributed to chance is ~0.019.
The corotation radius in a spiral galaxy is the radius where the spiral pattern speed has the same velocity of the rotation curve. By compiling results from the literature for 20 spiral galaxies we verified a strong correlation between the radius of the minima or inflections of the metallicity distribution and the corotation radius.
The Tully-Fisher relation of spiral galaxies shows notable dependence on morphological types, with earlier type spirals having systematically lower luminosity at fixed maximum rotation velocity $V_{max}$. This decrement of luminosity is more significant in shorter wavelengths. By modeling the rotation curve and stellar population of different morphological type spiral galaxies in combination, we find the $V_{max}$ of spiral galaxies is weakly dependent on the morphological type, whereas the difference of the stellar population originating from the bulge disk composition effect mainly account f…
We present the results of CO (J=1-0) observations towards nine barred spiral galaxies at z=0.08-0.25 using the 45-m telescope at Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO). This survey is the first one specialized for barred spiral galaxies in this redshift range. We detected CO emission from six out of nine galaxies, whose CO luminosity (L_CO') ranges (1.09-10.8)\times10^9 K km s^{-1} pc^2. These are the infrared (IR) dimmest galaxies that have ever been detected in CO at z~0.1 to date. They follow the L_CO'-L_IR relation among local spiral galaxies, Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs), Ultra-Luminous I…
We discuss the results of a mass decomposition of two spiral galaxies, NGC 6824 and UGC 11919. In a previous analysis of the Hyperleda catalog, the galaxies were identified as having a peculiar dynamical $M/L$. The aim of this study is to confirm or disprove the preliminary findings, indicating a non-standard stellar initial mass function (IMF) for the galaxies. The surface photometry in B, V, and R bands was carried out with the Apache Point 0.5-m telescope and the \ion{H}{I} data cubes were obtained with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). Photometric profiles were decomposed in…
Although there are many more stellar population studies of elliptical and lenticular galaxies, studies of spiral galaxies are catching up, due to higher signal to noise data on one hand, and better analysis methods on the other. Here I start by discussing some modern methods of analyzing integrated spectra of spiral galaxies, and comparing them with traditional methods. I then discuss some recent developments in our understanding of the stellar content of spiral galaxies, and their associated dust content. I discuss star formation histories, radial stellar population gradients, and stellar pop…
We provide an overview of ancillary 24, 70, and 160 micron data from the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) that are intended to complement the 70-500 micron Herschel Space Observatory photometry data for nearby galaxies obtained by the Herschel-SPIRE Local Galaxies Guaranteed Time Programs and the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. The MIPS data can be used to extend the photometry to wave bands that are not observed in these Herschel surveys and to check the photometry in cases where Herschel performs observations at the same wavelengths. Additionally, we measured globally-integrate…
We compare the UV-optical colors of a well-defined set of optically-selected pre-merger interacting galaxy pairs with those of normal spirals. The shorter wavelength colors show a larger dispersion for the interacting galaxies than for the spirals. This result can best be explained by higher star formation rates on average in the interacting galaxies, combined with higher extinctions on average. This is consistent with earlier studies, that found that the star formation in interacting galaxies tends to be more centrally concentrated than in normal spirals, perhaps due to gas being driven into …
Schmidt's method for construction of luminosity function of galaxies is generalized by taking into account the dependence of density of galaxies from the distance in the near Universe. The logarithmical luminosity function (LLF) of field galaxies depending on morphological type is constructed. We show that the LLF for all galaxies, and also separately for elliptical and lenticular galaxies can be presented by Schechter function in narrow area of absolute magnitudes. The LLF of spiral galaxies was presented by Schechter function for enough wide area of absolute magnitudes: . Spiral galaxies dif…
Recent observations have revealed that red, optically--passive spiral galaxies with little or no optical emission lines, harbour significant amounts of dust-obscured star formation. We propose that these observational results can be explained if the spatial distributions of the cold gas and star-forming regions in these spiral galaxies are significantly more compact than those in blue star-forming spirals. Our numerical simulations show that if the sizes of star-forming regions in spiral galaxies with disk sizes of R_d are ~ 0.3R_d, such galaxies appear to have lower star formation rates as we…
No significant color differences are found between normal and barred spirals over the range of Hubble stages a - ab - b - bc. Furthermore, no significant difference is seen between the luminosity distributions of normal and barred galaxies over the same range of Hubble stages. However, SBc galaxies are found to be systematically fainter than Sc galaxies at 99% confidence. The observation that normal and barred spirals with Hubble stages a - ab - b - bc have indistinguishable intrinsic colors hints at the possibility that the bars in such spiral galaxies might be ephemeral structures. Finally, …
We present a detailed photometric study and measurements of spiral arm pitch angles for a sample of 50 non-barred or weakly barred grand-design spiral galaxies selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In order to find pitch angles, we used a new method based on the window Fourier analysis of their images. This method allows us not only to infer the average pitch angle, but to obtain its value as a function of galactocentric radius as well. Our main results are as follows: (1) Spiral arms of most galaxies cannot be described by a single value of the pitch angle. About 2/3 of galaxies demonstrate…
[Abridged] We study the spectral properties of intermediate mass galaxies as a function of colour and morphology. We use Galaxy Zoo to define three morphological classes of galaxies, namely early-types (ellipticals), late-type (disk-dominated) face-on spirals and early-type (bulge-dominated) face-on spirals. We classify these galaxies as blue or red according to their SDSS g-r colour and use the spectral fitting code VESPA to calculate time-resolved star-formation histories, metallicity and total starlight dust extinction from their SDSS fibre spectra. We find that red late-type spirals show l…
(Abridged) We trace the interaction processes of galaxies at intermediate redshift by measuring the irregularity of their ionized gas kinematics, and investigate these irregularities as a function of the environment (cluster versus field) and of morphological type (spiral versus irregular). Our sample consists of 92 distant galaxies. 16 cluster (z~0.3 and z~0.5) and 29 field galaxies (mean z=0.44) of these have velocity fields with sufficient signal to be analyzed. We find that the fraction of galaxies that have irregular gas kinematics is remarkably similar in galaxy clusters and in the field…
Motivated by an amazing range of reported distances to the nearby Local Group spiral galaxy M33, we have obtained deep near-infrared photometry for 26 long-period Cepheids in this galaxy with the ESO VLT. From the data we constructed period-luminosity relations in the J and K bands which together with previous optical VI photometry for the Cepheids by Macri et al. were used to determine the true distance modulus of M33, and the mean reddening affecting the Cepheid sample with the multiwavelength fit method developed in the Araucaria Project. We find a true distance modulus of 24.62 for M33, wi…
According to one version of the recently proposed "manifold" theory that explains the origin of spirals and rings in relation to chaotic orbits, galaxies with stronger bars should have a higher spiral arms pitch angle when compared to galaxies with weaker bars. A sub-sample of barred-spiral galaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey, was used to analyze the spiral arms pitch angle. These were compared with bar strengths taken from the literature. It was found that the galaxies in which the spiral arms maintain a logarithmic shape for more than 70$\degr$ seem to corroborate the …
We have studied the pitch angles of spiral arms for 31 distant galaxies at z~0.7 from three Hubble Deep Fields (HDF-N, HDF-S, HUDF). Using the pitch angle - rotation velocity relation calibrated from nearby galaxies, we have estimated the rotation velocities of galaxies from the deep fields. These estimates have a low accuracy (~50 km/s), but they allow low-mass and giant galaxies to be distinguished. The Tully-Fisher relation constructed using our velocity estimates shows satisfactory agreement with the actually observed relations for distant galaxies and provides evidence for the luminosity …
We present observations of pseudobulges in S0 and spiral galaxies using imaging data taken with the Spitzer Infra-Red Array Camera. We have used 2-d bulge-disk-bar decomposition to determine structural parameters of 185 S0 galaxies and 31 nearby spiral galaxies. Using the Sersic index and the position on the Kormendy diagram to classify their bulges as either classical or pseudo, we find that 25 S0s (14%) and 24 spirals (77%) host pseudoblges. The fraction of pseudobulges we find in spiral galaxies is consistent with previous results obtained with optical data and show that the evolution of a …
Spin patterns of spiral galaxies can be broadly separated into galaxies with clockwise (Z-wise) patterns and galaxies with counterclockwise (S-wise) spin patterns. While the differences between these patterns are visually noticeable, they are a matter of the perspective of the observer, and therefore in a sufficiently large universe no other differences are expected between galaxies with Z-wise and S-wise patterns. Here large datasets of spiral galaxies separated by their spin patterns are used to show that spiral galaxies with Z-wise spin patterns are photometrically different from spiral gal…
In this work we study rotation curves of spiral galaxies using a model of dark matter based on a scalar-tensor theory of gravity. We show how to estimate the scalar field dark matter parameters using a sample of observed rotation curves.
It is often argued that young stellar clusters suffer a significant infant mortality that is partly related to the expulsion of dust and gas in their early phases caused by radiation pressure from hot stars and supernovae. Near-infrared (J-K)-Mk diagrams of young stellar clusters in nearby spiral galaxies show a bi-modal distribution that is consistent with a fast decline of their intrinsic extinction at an early epoch. The distinct features in the color-magnitude diagrams (CMD) and the fast change of colors for the youngest clusters allow us to place constraints on their early evolutionary ph…
Quenched massive spiral galaxies have attracted great attention recently, as more data is available to constrain their environment and cold gas content. However, the quenching mechanism is still uncertain, as it depends on the mass range and baryon budget of the galaxy. In this letter, we report the identification of a rare population of very massive, quenched spiral galaxies with stellar mass $\gtrsim10^{11}{\rm~M_\odot}$ and halo mass $\gtrsim10^{13}{\rm~M_\odot}$ from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at redshift $z\sim0.1$. Our CO observations using the IRAM-30m telescope show that these galaxi…
The star formation and the subsequent metallic enrichment of spiral galaxies, occurring at the early phases of their evolution, produce emission lines whose contribution may change the colors of these objects. We have computed this contribution with consistent chemo-spectro-photometrical theoretical models in order to calculate the variations in the colors evolution.
The distribution of the spin directions of spiral galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has been a topic of debate in the past two decades, with conflicting conclusions reported even in cases where the same data was used. Here we follow one of the previous experiments by applying the SpArcFiRe algorithm to annotate the spin directions in original dataset of Galaxy Zoo 1. The annotation of the galaxy spin directions is done after a first step of selecting the spiral galaxies in three different manners: manual analysis by Galaxy Zoo classifications, by a model-driven computer analysis, and wi…
Making use of a set of detailed potential models for normal spiral galaxies, we analyze the disk stellar orbital dynamics as the structural and dynamical parameters of the spiral arms (mass, pattern speed and pitch angle) are gradually modified. With this comprehensive study of ordered and chaotic behavior, we constructed an assemblage of orbitally supported galactic models and plausible parameters for orbitally self-consistent spiral arms models. We find that, to maintain orbital support for the spiral arms, the spiral arm mass, M$_{sp}$, must decrease with the increase of the pitch angle, $i…
We present the analysis of the XMM-Newton data of the Circum-Galactic Medium of MASsive Spirals (CGM-MASS) sample of six extremely massive spiral galaxies in the local Universe. All the CGM-MASS galaxies have diffuse X-ray emission from hot gas detected above the background extending $\sim(30-100)\rm~kpc$ from the galactic center. This doubles the existing detection of such extended hot CGM around massive spiral galaxies. The radial soft X-ray intensity profile of hot gas can be fitted with a $β$-function with the slope typically in the range of $β=0.35-0.55$. This range, as well as those $β$ …
