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Surface brightness definition Surface brightness terminology The Sersic profile: Some useful equations Exponential profile De Vaucouleurs profile Some examples: Profiles Equations
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azimuthal angle
Galaxies AS 3011
r n I( r) = I0 exp( )
I(r) = intensity at radius r I0 = central intensity (intensity at centre) = scalelength (radius at which intensity drops by e-1) index (shape parameter) n = Sersic Can be used to describe most structures, e.g.,
Elliptical: 1.5 < n < 20 Pseudo-bulge: 1 < n < 2 Disc: n~1 Bulge: 1.5 < n < 10 Bar: n~0.5
Sersic shapes
Galaxies AS 3011
L=
I(r)rdr = 2I r exp(( r )
0 0 0 0 1
) dr
L = 2I0 2 n x 2 n 1 exp( x ) dx
0
(z) =
t
0
z-1 t
e dt = ( z 1)!
L = (2n)! 0 2 - Very important and useful formulae which connects the total luminosity to directly measureable structural parameters. - Most useful when expressed in magnitudes:
- So for fixed m as
- Note: SBs are like mags low value = high SB, high value=low SB !!
Galaxies AS 3011
Q1) If a galaxy with a Sersic index of 1 has a measured SB of =21.7 mag/sq arcsec, a scale-length of 2 and lies at a redshift of 0.1 what is its absolute magnitude ? [Assume Ho=100km/s/Mpc]
Galaxies AS 3011
m = o 5log10 2 m = 21.7 1.5 2 m = 18.2 mags v Hd z = , v = H o d => z = o c c cz d= = 300 Mpc Ho m M = 5log10 d + 25 M = 19.2 mags
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Q2) for an elliptical with n=4 is typically 15 mag/sq arcsec at m=19.7 mags what does this equate too ?
m = o 5log10 12.7
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Scale-length to small to measure for high-n systems so adopt half-light radius (Re) instead.
Re
2
k
rI(r)dr =
0
0
2 2
rI(r)dr
0
2 (2 n, k ) = (2 n ) = 2 t 2 n 1e t dt =
0
2 n 1 t
e , where : Re = k n , or, =
Re kn
I ( r) = Io exp([ r R ( e
] n ) = Io exp(k[ r R ] n ) e n)
Galaxies AS 3011
I ( r) = Io exp(7.67[ R R ] 4 )
e
13
Therefore: Re = 3459 4 From previous example: = 3.3 10 '' I.e., Re is measureable. Re = 1.15'' Central SB is also very difficult to get right for ellipticals as its so high, much easier to measure the surface brightness at the half-light radius. I.e., 3.33
Ie = Io exp(7.67) = Io10
x
= e x ln10 ]
1 e
3.33[ R R ] 4
1
3.33[( R R ) 4 1]
e
Galaxies AS 3011
I ( r) = Ie exp{7.67[( R R ) 4 1]}
e
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This expression is known as the de Vaucouleurs r1/4 law and is commonly used to profile ellipticals galaxies. Note luminosity can be recast for n=4 as:
L = Io 2 (2 n )! For : n = 4, = L = 7.2Ie Re2 Re
3.33 3459 , I0 = Ie 10
Recently the more generalised form with n free has become popular with galaxies having a range of n from 10-->0.5 (Note n=0.5 is a Guassian-like profile) as it fits variety of structures we see: the
I ( r) = Ie exp{ k[( r R )
e
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1]}
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Sab c ".
In reality profiles are a combination of bulge plus disc profiles with the bulges exhibiting a Sersic profile and the disc an exponential.
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2 component system
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Size of a galaxy?
Measuring the size of a galaxy is non-trivial Not clear where galaxy ends Some truncate and some dont Need a standard reference By convention galaxy sizes are specified by the half-light radius (Re) or by scale-length () New quantitative classification scheme is based on the stellar mass versus half-light radius plane either for the total galaxy or for components.work in progress
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