Bibcode
Pohlen, M.; Beckman, J. E.; Hüttemeister, S.; Knapen, J. H.; Erwin, P.; Dettmar, R.-J.
Bibliographical reference
Penetrating bars through masks of cosmic dust : the Hubble tuning fork strikes a new note, Proceedings of a conference held at Pilanesburg National Park (South Africa). Edited by D. L. Block, I. Puerari, K. C. Freeman, R. Groess, and E. K. Block. Astrophysics and space science library (ASSL) vol. 319. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004, p.713
Advertised on:
1
2004
Citations
38
Refereed citations
33
Description
In the light of several recent developments we revisit the phenomenon of
galactic stellar disk truncations. Even 25 years since the first paper
on outer breaks in the radial light profiles of spiral galaxies, their
origin is still unclear. The two most promising explanations are that
these 'outer edges' either trace the maximum angular momentum during the
galaxy formation epoch, or are associated with global star formation
thresholds. Depending on their true physical nature, these outer edges
may represent an improved size characteristic (e.g., as compared to
D_25) and might contain fossil evidence imprinted by the galaxy
formation and evolutionary history. We will address several
observational aspects of disk truncations: their existence, not only in
normal HSB galaxies, but also in LSB and even dwarf galaxies; their
detailed shape, not sharp cut-offs as thought before, but in fact
demarcating the start of a region with a steeper exponential
distribution of starlight; their possible association with bars; as well
as problems related to the line-of-sight integration for edge-on
galaxies (the main targets for truncation searches so far). Taken
together, these observations currently favour the star-formation
threshold model, but more work is necessary to implement the truncations
as adequate parameters characterising galactic disks.