Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles
Title
The Edge-On Perspective of Bulgeless, Simple Disk Galaxies
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Publication Title
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Keywords
IYA Review
ISSN
0004-6280
Volume
121
Issue/No.
886
First Page
1297
Last Page
1306
Abstract
This review focuses on flat and superthin galaxies. These are edge-on bulgeless galaxies, which are composed of a simple, stellar disk. The properties of these simple disks are at the end of a continuum that extends smoothly from bulge-dominated disk galaxies to the pure disks. On average, simple disks are low-mass galaxies with low surface brightnesses, blue colors, and slow rotational velocities. Widely-accepted cosmological models of galaxy formation and evolution were challenged by a relatively large observed fraction of pure disk galaxies, and only very recent models can explain the existence of simple disk galaxies. This makes simple disks an optimal galaxy type for the study of galaxy formation in a hierarchical universe. They enable us to analyze the environmental and internal influence on galaxy evolution, to study the stability of the disks, and to explain the nature and distribution of dark matter in galaxies. This review summarizes the current status of edge-on simple disk galaxies in the universe.
NSUWorks Citation
Kautsch, S. (2009). The Edge-On Perspective of Bulgeless, Simple Disk Galaxies. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 121, (886), 1297 - 1306. https://doi.org/10.1086/649607. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_chemphys_facarticles/79
DOI
10.1086/649607
