Abstract
Observations of extended rotation curves in spiral galaxies show that the cumulative mass distribution in a galaxy increases roughly linearly with radius, unlike the light distribution which rises much more slowly [1]. This discrepancy is taken as evidence for a dark, extended halo distinct from the visible stellar disk. The question then arises as to what are the relative contributions of the luminous and dark components to the total mass of a galaxy and how are their relative distributions related to galaxy formation. This paper examines several aspects of galaxy photometry and how photometric and kinematic data can be combined to model the mass distribution in spiral galaxies.
Published Version
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