Kinematical signatures of hidden stellar discs
Feb, 19997 pages
Published in:
- Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 302 (1999) 530
e-Print:
- astro-ph/9902033 [astro-ph]
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Abstract: (arXiv)
The deprojection of the surface brightness distribution of an axisymmetric galaxy does not have a unique solution unless the galaxy is viewed precisely edge-on. I present an algorithm that finds the full range of smooth axisymmetric density distributions consistent with a given surface brightness distribution and inclination angle, and use it to investigate the effects of this non-uniqueness on the line-of-sight velocity profiles (VPs) of two-integral models of both real and toy disky galaxies viewed at a range of inclination angles. Photometrically invisible face-on disks leave very clear signatures in the minor-axis VPs of the models (Gauss--Hermite coefficients h_4>0.1), provided the disk-to-bulge ratio is greater than about 3%. I discuss the implications of these hitherto neglected disks for dynamical modelling.References(18)
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