MEASUREMENT OF GALACTIC LOGARITHMIC SPIRAL ARM PITCH ANGLE USING TWO-DIMENSIONAL FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM DECOMPOSITION

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/199/2/33· OSTI ID:22047900

Davis, Benjamin L; Berrier, Joel C; Shields, Douglas W; Kennefick, Julia; Kennefick, Daniel; Seigar, Marc S; Lacy, Claud H. S. ^[1]; Puerari, Ivanio ^[2]

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1. Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, 202 Field House, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 (United States)
2. Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, Calle Luis Enrique Erro 1, 72840 Santa Maria Tonantzintla, Puebla (Mexico)

A logarithmic spiral is a prominent feature appearing in a majority of observed galaxies. This feature has long been associated with the traditional Hubble classification scheme, but historical quotes of pitch angle of spiral galaxies have been almost exclusively qualitative. We have developed a methodology, utilizing two-dimensional fast Fourier transformations of images of spiral galaxies, in order to isolate and measure the pitch angles of their spiral arms. Our technique provides a quantitative way to measure this morphological feature. This will allow comparison of spiral galaxy pitch angle to other galactic parameters and test spiral arm genesis theories. In this work, we detail our image processing and analysis of spiral galaxy images and discuss the robustness of our analysis techniques.

• OSTI ID: 22047900
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 199; ISSN 0067-0049; ISSN APJSA2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
CLASSIFICATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
FOURIER TRANSFORMATION
GALAXIES
IMAGE PROCESSING
IMAGES
INCLINATION
MEASURING METHODS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS