Bibcode
Domínguez-Palmero, L.; Balcells, M.; Erwin, P.; Prieto, M.; Cristóbal-Hornillos, D.; Eliche-Moral, M. C.; Guzmán, R.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 488, Issue 3, 2008, pp.1167-1219
Advertised on:
9
2008
Journal
Citations
12
Refereed citations
10
Description
Context: Analysis of bulges to redshifts of up to z ˜ 1 have
provided ambiguous results as to whether bulges as a class are old
structures akin to elliptical galaxies or younger products of the
evolution of their host disks. Aims: We aim to define a sample
of intermediate-z disk galaxies harbouring central bulges, and a
complementary sample of disk galaxies without measurable bulges. We
intend to provide colour profiles for both samples, as well as
measurements of nuclear, disk, and global colours, which may be used to
constrain the relative ages of bulges and disks. Methods: We
select a diameter-limited sample of galaxies in images from the
HST/WFPC2 (Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 at the Hubble Space Telescope)
Groth Strip survey, which is divided into two subsamples of higher and
lower inclination to assess the role of dust in the measures quantities.
Mergers are visually identified and excluded. We take special care to
control the pollution by ellipticals. The bulge sample is defined with a
criterion based on nuclear surface brightness excess over the inward
extrapolation of the exponential law fitted to the outer regions of the
galaxies. We extract colour profiles on the semi-minor axis least
affected by dust in the disk, and measure nuclear colours at 0.85 kpc
from the centre over those profiles. Disk colours are measured on major
axis profiles; global colours are obtained from 2.6´´
diameter apertures. Colour transformations and K-corrections are
calculated using SEDs covering bands U B V I J K, from the GOYA
photometric survey. Results: We obtain a parent sample
containing 248 galaxies with known redshifts, spectroscopic or
photometric, spanning 0.1 < z < 1.2. The bulge subsample comprises
54 galaxies (21.8% of the total), while the subsample with no
measureable bulges is 55.2% of the total (137 galaxies). The remainder
(23%) is composed of mergers. We list nuclear, disk, and global colours
(observed and rest-frame) and magnitudes (apparent and absolute), as
well as galaxy colour gradients for the samples with and without bulges,
and make them available in electronic form at the CDS. We also provide
images, colour maps, plots of spectral energy distributions, major-axis
surface brightness profiles, and minor-axis colour profiles for both
samples.