Abstract
Abstract We assess the intrinsic thickness parameter, qo, for a sample of dwarf irregular galaxies and compare to larger, more massive spiral galaxy systems. We use optical photometry to determine b/a (minor-to-major axial ratio), and we use the H i kinematic inclination angle to derive qo. We find that qo ranges from 0.1 to 0.8 for the dwarfs. We find a trend in qo with luminosity, indicating that fainter dwarfs are thicker than brighter ones, similar to previous studies. However, we also find a trend in qo with H i kinematic inclination, which indicates that either the radius at which we measure b/a may be too small, or, that the stellar and gas discs have different inclinations. Because we selected only those objects that have nearly identical morphological and kinematic position angles, we find the latter reason unlikely. We find a weak trend in qo with hz/RD (ratio of stellar scaleheight to scalelength), which points to b/a not fully representing the stellar disc distribution. We conclude that a constant qo may not be appropriate for dwarf irregulars.
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