2013/08/28 by Sambit Roychowdhury, Jayaram N. Chengalur, И. Д. Караченцев +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Axial ratio #Disc galaxy #Dwarf galaxy #Dwarf spheroidal galaxy #Elliptical galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Irregular galaxy #Lenticular galaxy #Luminosity #Oblate spheroid #Optics #Physics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Velocity dispersion #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slt123
5 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. For the definitive version visit http://mnrasl.oxfordjournals.org/
arxiv created 2013/08/28 · openalex publication_date 2013/10/01 · arxiv updated 2014/09/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract We use the measured B-band axial ratios of galaxies from an updated catalogue of Local Volume galaxies to determine the intrinsic shape of dwarf irregular galaxies (de Vaucouleurs’ morphological types 8–10). We find that the shapes change systematically with luminosity, with fainter galaxies being thicker. In particular, we divide our sample into sub-samples and find that the most luminous dwarfs (−19.6 < MB < −14.8) have thin discs (thickness ∼0.2), with the disc being slightly elliptical (axial ratio ∼0.8). At intermediate luminosity, viz. −14.8 < MB < −12.6, the galaxies are still characterized by elliptical discs (axial ratio ∼0.7), but the discs are somewhat thicker (thickness ∼0.4). The faintest dwarfs, viz. those with −12.6 < MB < −6.7 are well described as being oblate spheroids with an axial ratio ∼0.5. The increasing thickness of the stellar discs of dwarf irregulars with decreasing luminosity is compatible with the increasing ratio of velocity dispersion to rotational velocity with decreasing galaxy size.