Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : M–Re relations of z = 0 bulges, discs and spheroids.

Authors

Rebecca Lange, University of Western Australia
Amanda J. Moffett, University of Western Australia
Simon P. Driver, University of Western Australia
Aaron S. G. Robotham, University of Western Australia
Claudia del P. Lagos, University of Western Australia
Lee S. Kelvin, Liverpool John Moores University
Christopher Conselice, University of Nottingham
Berta Margalef-Bentabol, University of Nottingham
Mehmet Alpaslan, NASA Ames Research Center
Ivan K. Baldry, Liverpool John Moores University
Joss Bland-Hawthorn, University of Sydney
Malcolm Bremer, University of Bristol
Sarah Brough, Australian Astronomical Observatory
Michelle Cluver, University of Western Cape
Matthew Colless, Australian National University
Luke J. M. Davies, University of Western Australia
Boris Haußler, European Southern Observatory
Benne W. Holwerda, University of Louisville
Andrew M. Hopkins, University of Sydney
Prajwal R. Kafle, University of Western Australia
Rebecca Kennedy, University of Nottingham
Jochen Liske, Universitat Hamburg
Steven Phillipps, University of Bristol
Cristina C. Popescu, University of Central Lancashire
Edward N. Taylor, University of Melbourne
Richard Tuffs, Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik
Eelco van Kampen, European Southern Observatory
Angus H. Wright, University of Western Australia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2016

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

We perform automated bulge + disc decomposition on a sample of ∼7500 galaxies from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey in the redshift range of 0.002 < z < 0.06 using Structural Investigation of Galaxies via Model Analysis, a wrapper around GALFIT3. To achieve robust profile measurements, we use a novel approach of repeatedly fitting the galaxies, varying the input parameters to sample a large fraction of the input parameter space. Using this method, we reduce the catastrophic failure rate significantly and verify the confidence in the fit independently of χ2. Additionally, using the median of the final fitting values and the 16th and 84th percentile produces more realistic error estimates than those provided by GALFIT, which are known to be underestimated. We use the results of our decompositions to analyse the stellar mass – half-light radius relations of bulges, discs and spheroids. We further investigate the association of components with a parent disc or elliptical relation to provide definite z = 0 disc and spheroid M–Re relations. We conclude by comparing our local disc and spheroid M–Re to simulated data from EAGLE and high-redshift data from Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey-Ultra Deep Survey. We show the potential of using the M–Re relation to study galaxy evolution in both cases but caution that for a fair comparison, all data sets need to be processed and analysed in the same manner.

Comments

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Copyright: 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1495

Original Publication Information

Lange, Rebecca, et al. "Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): M⋆--Re relations of z = 0 Bulges, Discs and Spheroids." 2016. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 462(2): 1470-1500.

ThinkIR Citation

Lange, Rebecca; Moffett, Amanda J.; Driver, Simon P.; Robotham, Aaron S. G.; Lagos, Claudia del P.; Kelvin, Lee S.; Conselice, Christopher; Margalef-Bentabol, Berta; Alpaslan, Mehmet; Baldry, Ivan K.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Bremer, Malcolm; Brough, Sarah; Cluver, Michelle; Colless, Matthew; Davies, Luke J. M.; Haußler, Boris; Holwerda, Benne W.; Hopkins, Andrew M.; Kafle, Prajwal R.; Kennedy, Rebecca; Liske, Jochen; Phillipps, Steven; Popescu, Cristina C.; Taylor, Edward N.; Tuffs, Richard; van Kampen, Eelco; and Wright, Angus H., "Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : M–Re relations of z = 0 bulges, discs and spheroids." (2016). Faculty and Staff Scholarship. 155.
https://ir.library.louisville.edu/faculty/155

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stw1495