Superthin Galaxies
Some Brief Background:
"Superthin" spiral galaxies are so-called owing to their highly flattened, dynamically cold
stellar disks and their lack of a visible spheroid component. These properties are evident because
we are viewing these galaxies nearly exactly edge-on. The term "superthin" was coined by Jean Goad
and Morton Roberts in their seminal 1981 paper,
although Russian scientists had drawn attention to these intriguing
"needle-like" galaxies in photographic sky surveys even earlier
(e.g., Ogorodnikov 1958; Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov 1967).
The structural simplicity and edge-on orientation of
superthins makes these galaxies excellent laboratories for exploring how
internal versus external processes regulate many of the key properties of
disk galaxies, including their structures and star formation
histories.
Image Gallery
R-Band image of the superthin galaxy UGC7321 taken with the WIYN
telescope by Matthews et al. 1999 (AJ, 118, 2751) :
Spitzer 3.6+4.5μm image of UGC7321 (PI: L. Matthews). See a
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Weekly Science Update featuring
this image here
and this paper, by MacLachlan, Matthews, Wood, and Gallagher (2011,
ApJ, 741, 6), which uses these data as part of a study of the
stability of superthin disks.
R-Band (left) and Hα (right) images of the superthin galaxy IC2233 taken with the WIYN
telescope by Matthews &
Uson 2008a (AJ, 135, 291).
Composite B-band, R-band and HI image of the superthin galaxy
UGC3697. Optical data were obtained with the WIYN
telescope and HI data with the VLA. See Matthews &
Uson 2004 or page 17 of the October 2002 NRAO Newsletter.
Data Products:
Available here are some data products from my own
published studies of superthin galaxies. This compilation is a
work in progress.
Any use of these data should cite the reference(s) indicated. For
additional data and information, see my complete list of publications.
•
IC2233: VLA HI data cube and moment maps (including
the neighboring blue compact dwarf NGC2537).
Reference: Matthews &
Uson 2008a (AJ, 135, 291).
For a study of "corrugations" in the stellar and gas disks of IC2233,
see also Matthews & Uson 2008b (ApJ, 688, 237).
•
UGC10043: WIYN B and R images of
the edge-on galaxy UGC10043.
Reference: Matthews &
de Grijs 2004 (AJ, 128, 137).
This page is currently under construction.
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