Unveiling the Nature of the Low Surface Brightness Stellar Host in Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies

Caon, N.; Cairós, Luz M.; Aguerri, J. Alfonso L.; Muñoz-Tuñón, Casiana
Referencia bibliográfica

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Volume 157, Issue 2, pp. 218-227.

Fecha de publicación:
4
2005
Número de autores
4
Número de autores del IAC
4
Número de citas
30
Número de citas referidas
26
Descripción
In order to characterize the low surface brightness component in blue compact dwarf galaxies, we determine their structural parameters for eight objects by fitting a Sérsic law to their B, V, and R light profiles. We restrict the fit to the outer regions, excluding the starburst emission with the help of color and Hα maps. We discuss the problems and the uncertainties involved in fitting the Sérsic model, in particular the limited surface brightness interval and the sky-subtraction errors. We show that by carefully selecting the fitted radial range and by performing consistency checks on the fits in the different bands we can derive reliable structural parameters. All galaxies but one show very good agreement on the Sérsic parameters in the three bands. Six of these galaxies have Sérsic indexes n very close to 1, while the other two have n~2.5. We compare the distribution of the BCDs with that of dI, dE, and LSB galaxies in the diagrams built upon the Sérsic parameters. While previous works claimed that BCDs are segregated from the other dwarfs in such diagrams, here we find that six BCDs occupy the same region as the other dwarf types, while two galaxies have larger n, smaller Re, and brighter μ0. These results indicate that evolutionary connections between BCDs and the other dwarf classes cannot be ruled out.