The distribution of mass in spiral galaxies

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (137) References (20) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The distribution of mass in spiral galaxies. Burstein, D. ; Rubin, V. C. Abstract Rotation curves for the 60 Sa, Sb, and Sc galaxies which the authors have previously studied indicate that galaxies of very different optical morphology and luminosity can have rotation curves of very similar form. This paper examines the dynamical mass distribution (both luminous and nonluminous) in these galaxies by assuming that the relation between the observed rotation curve and the projected mass distribution is the same for all spiral galaxies. It is shown that the derived mass distributions for most of these galaxies can be classified as one of three well-defined integral mass forms, where mass and radius are measured in units of a fiducial mass and a scale length. Galaxies of all Hubble types and luminosities are represented in each integral mass type. The forms of mass distribution do not correlate with Hubble type, bulge-to-disk ratio, luminosity, mass density, size, mass, or other known global properties of these galaxies. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: October 1985 DOI: 10.1086/163541 Bibcode: 1985ApJ...297..423B Keywords: Galactic Structure; Mass Distribution; Rotating Matter; Spiral Galaxies; Hubble Constant; Luminosity; Astrophysics full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (61) NED (61)