The Shape of Dark Matter Haloes IV. The Structure of Stellar Discs in Edge-on Galaxies

TL;DR

This study models the stellar discs of eight edge-on galaxies using multi-band observations and the FitSKIRT software, revealing that stellar discs can be accurately modeled while bulges remain challenging, and that dust layers are thicker in slow rotators.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent modeling approach for stellar discs and dust in edge-on galaxies using FitSKIRT across multiple bands, providing new insights into dust thickness and stellar structure.

Findings

Stellar discs can be modeled accurately in edge-on galaxies.

Bulge modeling remains unreliable with current methods.

Dust layers are thicker in slow rotating galaxies.

Abstract

We present optical and near-infrared archival observations of eight edge-on galaxies. These observations are used to model the stellar content of each galaxy using the FitSKIRT software package. Using FitSKIRT, we can self-consistently model a galaxy in each band simultaneously while treating for dust. This allows us to accurately measure both the scale length and scale height of the stellar disc, plus the shape parameters of the bulge. By combining this data with the previously reported integrated magnitudes of each galaxy, we can infer their true luminosities. We have successfully modelled seven out of the eight galaxies in our sample. We find that stellar discs can be modelled correctly, but have not been able to model the stellar bulge reliably. Our sample consists for the most part of slow rotating galaxies, and we find that the average dust layer is much thicker than what is reported for faster rotating galaxies.