Grand Design vs. Multi-Armed Spiral Galaxies: Dependence on Galaxy Structure

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Smith, Beverly J., Watson, Matthew, Giroux, Mark L., Struck, Curtis
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Smith, Beverly J.
Watson, Matthew
Giroux, Mark L.
Struck, Curtis
author_facet Smith, Beverly J.
Watson, Matthew
Giroux, Mark L.
Struck, Curtis
contents We developed an algorithm to use Galaxy Zoo 3D spiral arm masks produced by citizen scientist volunteers to semi-automatically classify spiral galaxies as either multi-armed or grand design spirals. Our final sample consists of 299 multi-armed and 245 grand design galaxies. On average, the grand design galaxies have smaller stellar masses than the multi-armed galaxies. For a given stellar mass, the grand design galaxies have larger concentrations, earlier Hubble types, smaller half-light radii, and larger central surface mass densities than the multi-armed galaxies. Lower mass galaxies of both arm classes have later Hubble types and lower concentrations than higher mass galaxies. In our sample, a higher fraction of grand design galaxies have classical bulges rather than pseudo-bulges, compared to multi-armed galaxies. These results are consistent with theoretical models and simulations which suggest that dense classical bulges support the development and/or longevity of 2-armed spiral patterns. Similar specific star formation rates are found in multi-armed and grand design galaxies with similar stellar masses and concentrations. This implies that the specific star formation rates in spiral galaxies is a function of concentration and stellar mass, but independent of the number of spiral arms. Our classifications are consistent with arm counts from the Galaxy Zoo 2 project and published m=3 Fourier amplitudes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_01516
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Grand Design vs. Multi-Armed Spiral Galaxies: Dependence on Galaxy Structure
Smith, Beverly J.
Watson, Matthew
Giroux, Mark L.
Struck, Curtis
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We developed an algorithm to use Galaxy Zoo 3D spiral arm masks produced by citizen scientist volunteers to semi-automatically classify spiral galaxies as either multi-armed or grand design spirals. Our final sample consists of 299 multi-armed and 245 grand design galaxies. On average, the grand design galaxies have smaller stellar masses than the multi-armed galaxies. For a given stellar mass, the grand design galaxies have larger concentrations, earlier Hubble types, smaller half-light radii, and larger central surface mass densities than the multi-armed galaxies. Lower mass galaxies of both arm classes have later Hubble types and lower concentrations than higher mass galaxies. In our sample, a higher fraction of grand design galaxies have classical bulges rather than pseudo-bulges, compared to multi-armed galaxies. These results are consistent with theoretical models and simulations which suggest that dense classical bulges support the development and/or longevity of 2-armed spiral patterns. Similar specific star formation rates are found in multi-armed and grand design galaxies with similar stellar masses and concentrations. This implies that the specific star formation rates in spiral galaxies is a function of concentration and stellar mass, but independent of the number of spiral arms. Our classifications are consistent with arm counts from the Galaxy Zoo 2 project and published m=3 Fourier amplitudes.
title Grand Design vs. Multi-Armed Spiral Galaxies: Dependence on Galaxy Structure
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.01516