Bibcode
Comerón, S.; Knapen, J. H.; Sheth, Kartik; Regan, Michael W.; Hinz, Joannah L.; Gil de Paz, Armando; Menéndez-Delmestre, Karín; Muñoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos; Seibert, Mark; Kim, Taehyun; Athanassoula, E.; Bosma, Albert; Buta, Ronald J.; Elmegreen, Bruce G.; Ho, Luis C.; Holwerda, Benne W.; Laurikainen, Eija; Salo, Heikki; Schinnerer, Eva
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 729, Issue 1, article id. 18 (2011).
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3
2011
Journal
Citations
43
Refereed citations
34
Description
If thick disks are ubiquitous and a natural product of disk galaxy
formation and/or evolution processes, all undisturbed galaxies that have
evolved during a significant fraction of a Hubble time should have a
thick disk. The late-type spiral galaxy NGC 4244 has been reported as
the only nearby edge-on galaxy without a confirmed thick disk. Using
data from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies
(S4G) we have identified signs of two disk components in this
galaxy. The asymmetries between the light profiles on both sides of the
mid-plane of NGC 4244 can be explained by a combination of the galaxy
not being perfectly edge-on and a certain degree of opacity of the thin
disk. We argue that the subtlety of the thick disk is a consequence of
either a limited secular evolution in NGC 4244, a small fraction of
stellar material in the fragments which built the galaxy, or a high
amount of gaseous accretion after the formation of the galaxy.
Related projects
Spiral Galaxies: Evolution and Consequences
Our small group is well known and respected internationally for our innovative and important work on various aspects of the structure and evolution of nearby spiral galaxies. We primarily use observations at various wavelengths, exploiting synergies that allow us to answer the most pertinent questions relating to what the main properties of
Johan Hendrik
Knapen Koelstra