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Title: MID-INFRARED GALAXY MORPHOLOGY FROM THE SPITZER SURVEY OF STELLAR STRUCTURE IN GALAXIES (S{sup 4}G): THE IMPRINT OF THE DE VAUCOULEURS REVISED HUBBLE-SANDAGE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AT 3.6 {mu}m

Abstract

Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera imaging provides an opportunity to study all known morphological types of galaxies in the mid-IR at a depth significantly better than ground-based near-infrared and optical images. The goal of this study is to examine the imprint of the de Vaucouleurs classification volume in the 3.6 {mu}m band, which is the best Spitzer waveband for galactic stellar mass morphology owing to its depth and its reddening-free sensitivity mainly to older stars. For this purpose, we have prepared classification images for 207 galaxies from the Spitzer archive, most of which are formally part of the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S{sup 4}G), a Spitzer post-cryogenic ('warm') mission Exploration Science Legacy Program survey of 2331 galaxies closer than 40 Mpc. For the purposes of morphology, the galaxies are interpreted as if the images are blue light, the historical waveband for classical galaxy classification studies. We find that 3.6 {mu}m classifications are well correlated with blue-light classifications, to the point where the essential features of many galaxies look very similar in the two very different wavelength regimes. Drastic differences are found only for the most dusty galaxies. Consistent with a previous study by Eskridge et al.,more » the main difference between blue-light and mid-IR types is an {approx}1 stage interval difference for S0/a to Sbc or Sc galaxies, which tend to appear 'earlier' in type at 3.6 {mu}m due to the slightly increased prominence of the bulge, the reduced effects of extinction, and the reduced (but not completely eliminated) effect of the extreme population I stellar component. We present an atlas of all of the 207 galaxies analyzed here and bring attention to special features or galaxy types, such as nuclear rings, pseudobulges, flocculent spiral galaxies, I0 galaxies, double-stage and double-variety galaxies, and outer rings, that are particularly distinctive in the mid-IR.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3];  [4]; ;  [5]; ; ; ;  [6]; ;  [7];  [8]; ;  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13]
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, Box 870324, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (United States)
  2. National Radio Astronomy Observatory/NAASC, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
  3. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
  4. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
  5. Departamento de Astrofisica y CC. de la Atmosfera, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. de la Complutense, s/n, E-28040 Madrid (Spain)
  6. The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
  7. Division of Astronomy, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, FIN-90014 (Finland)
  8. European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19 (Chile)
  9. Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Universite de Provence/CNRS UMR 6110, 38 rue Frederic Joliot Curie, 13388 Marseille Cedex 4 (France)
  10. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)
  11. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604 (United States)
  12. Institute for Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Dennis Sciama Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom)
  13. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 838, Daedeokdae-ro, Yuseong- gu, Daejeon 305-38 (Korea, Republic of)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21454951
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 190; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/190/1/147; Journal ID: ISSN 0067-0049
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; CLASSIFICATION; GALAXIES; MORPHOLOGY; STARS; TELESCOPES; WAVELENGTHS

Citation Formats

Buta, Ronald J, Sheth, Kartik, Aravena, Manuel, Regan, Michael, Hinz, Joannah L, Gil de Paz, Armando, Munoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos, Menendez-Delmestre, Karin, Seibert, Mark, Ho, Luis C, Madore, Barry F, Laurikainen, Eija, Salo, Heikki, Gadotti, Dimitri A, Athanassoula, E, Bosma, Albert, Knapen, Johan H, Elmegreen, Debra M, Masters, Karen L, and Comeron, Sebastien. MID-INFRARED GALAXY MORPHOLOGY FROM THE SPITZER SURVEY OF STELLAR STRUCTURE IN GALAXIES (S{sup 4}G): THE IMPRINT OF THE DE VAUCOULEURS REVISED HUBBLE-SANDAGE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AT 3.6 {mu}m. United States: N. p., 2010. Web. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/190/1/147.
Buta, Ronald J, Sheth, Kartik, Aravena, Manuel, Regan, Michael, Hinz, Joannah L, Gil de Paz, Armando, Munoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos, Menendez-Delmestre, Karin, Seibert, Mark, Ho, Luis C, Madore, Barry F, Laurikainen, Eija, Salo, Heikki, Gadotti, Dimitri A, Athanassoula, E, Bosma, Albert, Knapen, Johan H, Elmegreen, Debra M, Masters, Karen L, & Comeron, Sebastien. MID-INFRARED GALAXY MORPHOLOGY FROM THE SPITZER SURVEY OF STELLAR STRUCTURE IN GALAXIES (S{sup 4}G): THE IMPRINT OF THE DE VAUCOULEURS REVISED HUBBLE-SANDAGE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AT 3.6 {mu}m. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/190/1/147
Buta, Ronald J, Sheth, Kartik, Aravena, Manuel, Regan, Michael, Hinz, Joannah L, Gil de Paz, Armando, Munoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos, Menendez-Delmestre, Karin, Seibert, Mark, Ho, Luis C, Madore, Barry F, Laurikainen, Eija, Salo, Heikki, Gadotti, Dimitri A, Athanassoula, E, Bosma, Albert, Knapen, Johan H, Elmegreen, Debra M, Masters, Karen L, and Comeron, Sebastien. 2010. "MID-INFRARED GALAXY MORPHOLOGY FROM THE SPITZER SURVEY OF STELLAR STRUCTURE IN GALAXIES (S{sup 4}G): THE IMPRINT OF THE DE VAUCOULEURS REVISED HUBBLE-SANDAGE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AT 3.6 {mu}m". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/190/1/147.
@article{osti_21454951,
title = {MID-INFRARED GALAXY MORPHOLOGY FROM THE SPITZER SURVEY OF STELLAR STRUCTURE IN GALAXIES (S{sup 4}G): THE IMPRINT OF THE DE VAUCOULEURS REVISED HUBBLE-SANDAGE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AT 3.6 {mu}m},
author = {Buta, Ronald J and Sheth, Kartik and Aravena, Manuel and Regan, Michael and Hinz, Joannah L and Gil de Paz, Armando and Munoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos and Menendez-Delmestre, Karin and Seibert, Mark and Ho, Luis C and Madore, Barry F and Laurikainen, Eija and Salo, Heikki and Gadotti, Dimitri A and Athanassoula, E and Bosma, Albert and Knapen, Johan H and Elmegreen, Debra M and Masters, Karen L and Comeron, Sebastien},
abstractNote = {Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera imaging provides an opportunity to study all known morphological types of galaxies in the mid-IR at a depth significantly better than ground-based near-infrared and optical images. The goal of this study is to examine the imprint of the de Vaucouleurs classification volume in the 3.6 {mu}m band, which is the best Spitzer waveband for galactic stellar mass morphology owing to its depth and its reddening-free sensitivity mainly to older stars. For this purpose, we have prepared classification images for 207 galaxies from the Spitzer archive, most of which are formally part of the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S{sup 4}G), a Spitzer post-cryogenic ('warm') mission Exploration Science Legacy Program survey of 2331 galaxies closer than 40 Mpc. For the purposes of morphology, the galaxies are interpreted as if the images are blue light, the historical waveband for classical galaxy classification studies. We find that 3.6 {mu}m classifications are well correlated with blue-light classifications, to the point where the essential features of many galaxies look very similar in the two very different wavelength regimes. Drastic differences are found only for the most dusty galaxies. Consistent with a previous study by Eskridge et al., the main difference between blue-light and mid-IR types is an {approx}1 stage interval difference for S0/a to Sbc or Sc galaxies, which tend to appear 'earlier' in type at 3.6 {mu}m due to the slightly increased prominence of the bulge, the reduced effects of extinction, and the reduced (but not completely eliminated) effect of the extreme population I stellar component. We present an atlas of all of the 207 galaxies analyzed here and bring attention to special features or galaxy types, such as nuclear rings, pseudobulges, flocculent spiral galaxies, I0 galaxies, double-stage and double-variety galaxies, and outer rings, that are particularly distinctive in the mid-IR.},
doi = {10.1088/0067-0049/190/1/147},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21454951}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series},
issn = {0067-0049},
number = 1,
volume = 190,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010},
month = {Wed Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010}
}