Scale-length determinations of exponential discs of spiral galaxies - A comparison

Knapen, J. H.; van der Kruit, P. C.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 248, no. 1, Aug. 1991, p. 57-61. Research supported by EEC.

Advertised on:
8
1991
Number of authors
2
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
58
Refereed citations
56
Description
In the present comparative study of published values for the scale lengths of spiral galaxies' exponential disks, the average value of the discrepancy for more than 120 galaxies is 23 percent, with a standard deviation of 20 percent. Neither systematic trends nor correlations of discrepancies with such galaxy parameters as morphological type, arm class, or inclination, are noted. Semiautomated methods of scale-length determination are noted, however, to introduce rather large discrepancies. These results demonstrate the care with which physical intepretation of the exponential character of spiral galaxy disks should be conducted.