PATTERN COROTATION RADII FROM POTENTIAL-DENSITY PHASE-SHIFTS FOR 153 OSUBGS SAMPLE GALAXIES

Abstract

The potential-density phase-shift method is an effective new tool for investigating the structure and evolution of galaxies. In this paper, we apply the method to 153 galaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey (OSUBGS) to study the general relationship between pattern corotation radii and the morphology of spiral galaxies. The analysis is based on near-infrared H-band images that have been deprojected and decomposed assuming a spherical bulge. We find that multiple pattern speeds are common in disk galaxies. By selecting those corotation radii close to or slightly larger than the bar radius as being the bar corotation (CR) radius, we find that the average and standard deviation of the ratio R = r(CR)/r(bar), is 1.20 +/- 0.52 for 101 galaxies having well-defined bars. There is an indication that this ratio depends weakly on galaxy type in the sense that the average ranges from 1.03 +/- 0.37 for 65 galaxies of type Sbc and earlier, to 1.50 +/- 0.63 for 36 galaxies of type Sc and later. Our bar corotation radii are on average smaller than those estimated from single-pattern-speed numerical simulations, most likely because these simulations tend to find the pattern speed which generates a density response in the gas that best matches the morphology of the outer spiral structure. Although we find CR radii in most of the sample galaxies that satisfy conventional ideas about the extent of bars, we also consider the alternative interpretation that in many cases the bar CR is actually inside the bar and that the bar ends close to its outer Lindblad resonance instead of its CR. These "superfast" bars are the most controversial finding from our study. We see evidence in the phase-shift distributions for ongoing decoupling of patterns, which hints at the formation pathways of nested patterns, and which in turn further hints at the longevity of the density wave patterns in galaxies. We also examine how uncertainties in the orientation parameters of galaxies and in the shapes of bulges affect our results.

Description
Keywords
galaxies: kinematics and dynamics, galaxies: photometry, galaxies: spiral, galaxies: structure, 38 BARRED GALAXIES, SPIRAL GALAXIES, SECULAR EVOLUTION, DISK GALAXIES, HUBBLE SEQUENCE, MODAL APPROACH, NUCLEAR RINGS, MORPHOLOGY, RESONANCES, FLOCCULANT, Astronomy & Astrophysics
Citation
Buta, R., Xiaolei, Z. (2009): Pattern Corotation Radii from Potential-Density Phase-Shifts for 153 Osubgs Sample Galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 182(2). DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/182/2/559