GHASP: an H$\alpha$ kinematics survey of spiral galaxies - XII. Distribution of luminous and dark matter in spiral and irregular nearby galaxies using R$_c$-band photometry

TL;DR

This study analyzes the distribution of luminous and dark matter in 100 nearby spiral and irregular galaxies using Hα rotation curves and Rc-band photometry, comparing results with MIR data to assess dark matter profiles.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of dark matter halo parameters derived from optical and MIR photometry, highlighting the advantages of MIR data for galaxy mass modeling.

Findings

Most rotation curves favor core density profiles over cuspy ones.

Fixed M/L models show less dispersion in parameters.

MIR photometry yields more reliable stellar mass estimates.

Abstract

Mass models of 100 nearby spiral and irregular galaxies, covering morphological types from Sa to Irr, are computed using H$\alpha$ rotation curves and R$_c$-band surface brightness profiles. The kinematics was obtained using a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer. One of the aims is to compare our results with those from Korsaga et al. (2018), which used mid-infrared (MIR) WISE W1 (3.4 $\mu$m) photometric data. For the analysis, the same tools were used for both bands. Pseudo-Isothermal (ISO) core and Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) cuspy models have been used. We test Best Fit Models (BFM), Maximum Disc Models (MDM) and models for which M/L is fixed using the B - V colors. Similarly to what was found in the MIR 3.4 $\mu$m band, most of the observed rotation curves are better described by a central core density profile (ISO) than a cuspy one (NFW) when using the optical R$_c$-band. In both bands, the dispersion in the (M/L) values is smaller for the fixed M/L fits. As for the W1 photometry, the derived DM halos' parameters depend on the morphological types. We find similar relations than those in the literature, only when we compare our results for the bulge-poor sub-sample because most of previous results were mainly based on late-type spirals. Because the dispersion in the model parameters is smaller and because stellar masses are better defined in that band, MIR photometry should be preferred, when possible, to the optical bands. It is shown that for high-z galaxies, sensible results can still be obtained without full profile decomposition.