Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
1-7-2014
Journal/Book Title/Conference
223rd American Astronomical Meeting, 5-9 January 2014, Washington, DC
Abstract
The distribution of spiral and bar galaxy orientations is expected to be uniform. However, analysis of several major galaxy catalogs shows this is not always reflected in data. In an attempt to explain this discrepancy, we have developed a galaxy simulation code to compute the appearance of a spiral type galaxy as a function of its morphological parameters. We examine the dependence of observed brightness upon inclination angle by using smooth luminous mass density and interstellar medium (ISM) density distributions. The luminous mass component is integrated along a particular line of sight, thus producing a mass distribution, from which a surface luminosity profile is derived. The ISM component is integrated alongside the luminous mass component to account for light extinction. Using this model, we present simulated galaxy inclination distributions that account for potential selection effects.
Recommended Citation
Rozum, J., & Larson, S. (2014, January 7). Modeling Spiral Galaxy Surface Luminosity to Explain Non-Uniform Inclination Distributions. Presented at the 223rd American Astronomical Society Meeting, Washington, DC.
Comments
Poster presented at the 223rd American Astronomical Meeting, 5-9 January 2014, Washington, DC. PDF of poster available for download through link above.