Mass Distribution Of Galaxies Research Articles

Flux-ratio anomalies from discs and other baryonic structures in the Illustris simulation

The flux ratios in the multiple images of gravitationally lensed quasars can provide evidence for dark matter substructure in the halo of the lensing galaxy if the flux ratios differ from those predicted by a smooth model of the lensing galaxy mass distribution. However, it is also possible that baryonic structures in the lensing galaxy, such as edge-on discs, can produce flux-ratio anomalies. In this work, we present the first statistical analysis of flux-ratio anomalies due to baryons from a numerical simulation perspective. We select galaxies with various morphological types in the Illustris simulation and ray-trace through the simulated halos, which include baryons in the main lensing galaxies but exclude any substructures, in order to explore the pure baryonic effects. Our ray-tracing results show that the baryonic components can be a major contribution to the flux-ratio anomalies in lensed quasars and that edge-on disc lenses induce the strongest anomalies. We find that the baryonic components increase the probability of finding high flux-ratio anomalies in the early-type lenses by about 8% and by about 10 - 20% in the disc lenses. The baryonic effects also induce astrometric anomalies in 13% of the mock lenses. Our results indicate that the morphology of the lens galaxy becomes important in the analysis of flux-ratio anomalies when considering the effect of baryons, and that the presence of baryons may also partially explain the discrepancy between the observed (high) anomaly frequency and what is expected due to the presence of subhalos as predicted by the CDM simulations.

The impact of ΛCDM substructure and baryon-dark matter transition on the image positions of quad galaxy lenses

The positions of multiple images in galaxy lenses are related to the galaxy mass distribution. Smooth elliptical mass profiles were previously shown to be inadequate in reproducing the quad population. In this paper, we explore the deviations from such smooth elliptical mass distributions. Unlike most other work, we use a model-free approach based on the relative polar image angles of quads, and their position in 3D space with respect to the fundamental surface of quads (FSQ). The FSQ is defined by quads produced by elliptical lenses. We have generated thousands of quads from synthetic populations of lenses with substructure consistent with Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) simulations, and found that such perturbations are not sufficient to match the observed distribution of quads relative to the FSQ. The result is unchanged even when subhalo masses are increased by a factor of 10, and the most optimistic lensing selection bias is applied. We then produce quads from galaxies created using two components, representing baryons and dark matter. The transition from the mass being dominated by baryons in inner radii to being dominated by dark matter in outer radii can carry with it asymmetries, which would affect relative image angles. We run preliminary experiments using lenses with two elliptical mass components with non-identical axial ratios and position angles, perturbations from ellipticity in the form of non-zero Fourier coefficients a4 and a6, and artificially offset ellipse centres as a proxy for asymmetry at image radii. We show that combination of these effects is a promising way of accounting for quad population properties. We conclude that the quad population provides a unique and sensitive tool for constraining detailed mass distribution in the centres of galaxies.

Two-component Jaffe models with a central black hole – I. The spherical case

Dynamical properties of spherically symmetric galaxy models where both the stellar and total mass density distributions are described by the Jaffe (1983) profile (with different scale-lenghts and masses), are presented. The orbital structure of the stellar component is described by Osipkov--Merritt anisotropy, and a black hole (BH) is added at the center of the galaxy; the dark matter halo is isotropic. First, the conditions required to have a nowhere negative and monothonically decreasing dark matter halo density profile, are derived. We then show that the phase-space distribution function can be recovered by using the Lambert-Euler $W$ function, while in absence of the central BH only elementary functions appears in the integrand of the inversion formula. The minimum value of the anisotropy radius for consistency is derived in terms of the galaxy parameters. The Jeans equations for the stellar component are solved analytically, and the projected velocity dispersion at the center and at large radii are also obtained analytically for generic values of the anisotropy radius. Finally, the relevant global quantities entering the Virial Theorem are computed analytically, and the fiducial anisotropy limit required to prevent the onset of Radial Orbit Instability is determined as a function of the galaxy parameters. The presented models, even though highly idealized, represent a substantial generalization of the models presentd in Ciotti et al. (2009), and can be useful as starting point for more advanced modeling the dynamics and the mass distribution of elliptical galaxies.

Analysis of luminosity distributions of strong lensing galaxies: subtraction of diffuse lensed signal

Strong gravitational lensing gives access to the total mass distribution of galaxies. It can unveil a great deal of information about the lenses dark matter content when combined with the study of the lenses light profile. However, gravitational lensing galaxies, by definition, appear surrounded by point-like and diffuse lensed signal that is irrelevant to the lens flux. Therefore, the observer is most often restricted to studying the innermost portions of the galaxy, where classical fitting methods show some instabilities. We aim at subtracting that lensed signal and at characterising some lenses light profile by computing their shape parameters. Our objective is to evaluate the total integrated flux in an aperture the size of the Einstein ring in order to obtain a robust estimate of the quantity of ordinary matter in each system. We are expanding the work we started in a previous paper that consisted in subtracting point-like lensed images and in independently measuring each shape parameter. We improve it by designing a subtraction of the diffuse lensed signal, based only on one simple hypothesis of symmetry. This extra step improves our study of the shape parameters and we refine it even more by upgrading our half-light radius measurement. We also calculate the impact of our specific image processing on the error bars. The diffuse lensed signal subtraction makes it possible to study a larger portion of relevant galactic flux, as the radius of the fitting region increases by on average 17\%. We retrieve new half-light radii values that are on average 11\% smaller than in our previous work, although the uncertainties overlap in most cases. This shows that not taking the diffuse lensed signal into account may lead to a significant overestimate of the half-light radius. We are also able to measure the flux within the Einstein radius and to compute secure error bars to all of our results.

A Cosmic Void Catalog of SDSS DR12 BOSS Galaxies

Abstract We present a cosmic void catalog using the large-scale structure galaxy catalog from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This galaxy catalog is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 12 and is the final catalog of SDSS-III. We take into account the survey boundaries, masks, and angular and radial selection functions, and apply the ZOBOV void finding algorithm to the Galaxy catalog. We identify a total of 10,643 voids. After making quality cuts to ensure that the voids represent real underdense regions, we obtain 1,228 voids with effective radii spanning the range 20–100 and with central densities that are, on average, 30% of the mean sample density. We release versions of the catalogs both with and without quality cuts. We discuss the basic statistics of voids, such as their size and redshift distributions, and measure the radial density profile of the voids via a stacking technique. In addition, we construct mock void catalogs from 1000 mock galaxy catalogs, and find that the properties of BOSS voids are in good agreement with those in the mock catalogs. We compare the stellar mass distribution of galaxies living inside and outside of the voids, and find no large difference. These BOSS and mock void catalogs are useful for a number of cosmological and galaxy environment studies.

Rotation and mass in the Milky Way and spiral galaxies

Abstract Rotation curves are the basic tool for deriving the distribution of mass in spiral galaxies. In this review, we describe various methods to measure rotation curves in the Milky Way and spiral galaxies. We then describe two major methods to calculate the mass distribution using the rotation curve. By the direct method, the mass is calculated from rotation velocities without employing mass models. By the decomposition method, the rotation curve is deconvolved into multiple mass components by model fitting assuming a black hole, bulge, exponential disk, and dark halo. The decomposition is useful for statistical correlation analyses among the dynamical parameters of the mass components. We also review recent observations and derived results.

A spiral galaxy's mass distribution uncovered through lensing and dynamics

We investigate the matter distribution of a spiral galaxy with a counter-rotating stellar core, SDSS J1331+3628 (J1331), independently with gravitational lensing and stellar dynamical modelling. By fitting a gravitational potential model to a quadruplet of lensing images around J1331's bulge, we tightly constrain the mass inside the Einstein radius R_ein = (0.91 +/- 0.02)'' (~= 1.83 +/- 0.04 kpc) to within 4%: M_ein = (7.8 +/- 0.3) x 10^10 M_Sun. We model observed long-slit major axis stellar kinematics in J1331's central regions by finding Multi-Gaussian Expansion (MGE) models for the stellar and dark matter distribution that solve the axisymmetric Jeans equations. The lens and dynamical model are independently derived, but in very good agreement with each other around ~R_ein. We find that J1331's center requires a steep total mass-to-light ratio gradient. A dynamical model including an NFW halo (with virial velocity v_200 ~= 240 +/- 40 km/s and concentration c_200 ~= 8 +/- 2) and moderate tangential velocity anisotropy (beta_z ~= -0.4 +/- 0.1) can reproduce the signatures of J1331's counter-rotating core and predict the stellar and gas rotation curve at larger radii. However, our models do not agree with the observed velocity dispersion at large radii. We speculate that the reason could be a non-trivial change in structure and kinematics due to a possible merger event in J1331's recent past.

Evolution of star cluster systems in isolated galaxies: first results from directN-body simulations

The evolution of star clusters is largely affected by the tidal field generated by the host galaxy. It is thus in principle expected that under the assumption of an "universal" initial cluster mass function the properties of the evolved present-day mass function of star cluster systems should show a dependency on the properties of the galactic environment in which they evolve. To explore this expectation a sophisticated model of the tidal field is required in order to study the evolution of star cluster systems in realistic galaxies. Along these lines, in the present work we first describe a method developed for coupling $N$-body simulations of galaxies and star clusters. We then generate a database of galaxy models along the Hubble sequence and calibrate evolutionary equations to the results of direct $N$-body simulations of star clusters in order to predict the clusters' mass evolution as function of the galactic environment. We finally apply our methods to explore the properties of evolved "universal" initial cluster mass functions and any dependence on the host galaxy morphology and mass distribution. The preliminary results show that an initial power-law distribution of the masses "universally" evolves into a log-normal distribution, with the properties correlated with the stellar mass and stellar mass density density of the host galaxy.

Globular clusters as tracers of the host galaxy mass distribution: the Fornax dSph test case

The Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy is the most massive satellites of the Milky Way, claimed to be embedded in a huge dark matter halo, and the only among the Milky Way satellites hosting five globular clusters. Interestingly, their estimated masses, ages and positions seem hardly compatible with the presence of a significant dark matter component, as expected in the $\Lambda$ CDM scheme. Indeed, if Fornax would have a CDM halo with a standard density profile, all its globular clusters should have sunk to the galactic centre many Gyr ago due to dynamical friction. Due to this, some authors proposed that the most massive clusters may have formed out of Fornax and later tidally captured. In this paper we investigate the past evolution of the Fornax GC system by using both a recently developed, semi-analytical treatment of dynamical friction and direct $N$-body simulations of the orbital evolution of the globular clusters within Fornax and of Fornax galaxy around the Milky Way. Our results suggest that an "in-situ" origin for all the clusters is likely if their observed positions are close to their spatial ones and their orbits are almost circular. Moreover, the Milky Way seems to accelerate the GC decay reducing the decay time of $15\%$. Nevertheless, our results indicate that the GCs survival probability exceeds $50\%$, even in the case of cuspy density profiles. We conclude that more detailed data are required to shed light on the Fornax dark matter content, to distinguish between a cuspy or a cored profile.

The SLUGGS survey: the mass distribution in early-type galaxies within five effective radii and beyond

We study mass distributions within and beyond 5~effective radii ($R_{\rm e}$) in 23 early-type galaxies from the SLUGGS survey, using their globular cluster (GC) kinematic data. The data are obtained with Keck/DEIMOS spectrograph, and consist of line-of-sight velocities for ~$3500$ GCs, measured with a high precision of ~15 $\rm km\ s^{-1}$ per GC and extending out to $~13 R_{\rm e}$. We obtain the mass distribution in each galaxy using the tracer mass estimator of Watkins et al. and account for kinematic substructures, rotation of the GC systems and galaxy flattening in our mass estimates. The observed scatter between our mass estimates and results from the literature is less than 0.2 dex. The dark matter fraction within $5R_{\rm e}$ ($f_{\rm DM}$) increases from ~$0.6$ to ~$0.8$ for low- and high-mass galaxies, respectively, with some intermediate-mass galaxies ($M_*{\sim}10^{11}M_\odot$) having low $f_{\rm DM}\sim0.3$, which appears at odds with predictions from simple galaxy models. We show that these results are independent of the adopted orbital anisotropy, stellar mass-to-light ratio, and the assumed slope of the gravitational potential. However, the low $f_{\rm DM}$ in the ~$10^{11}M_\odot$ galaxies agrees with the cosmological simulations of Wu et al. where the pristine dark matter distribution has been modified by baryons during the galaxy assembly process. We find hints that these $M_*\sim10^{11}M_\odot$ galaxies with low $f_{\rm DM}$ have very diffuse dark matter haloes, implying that they assembled late. Beyond $5R_{\rm e}$, the $M/L$ gradients are steeper in the more massive galaxies and shallower in both low and intermediate mass galaxies.

A NEW STATISTICAL PERSPECTIVE TO THE COSMIC VOID DISTRIBUTION

ABSTRACT In this study, we obtain the size distribution of voids as a three-parameter redshift-independent log-normal void probability function (VPF) directly from the Cosmic Void Catalog (CVC). Although many statistical models of void distributions are based on the counts in randomly placed cells, the log-normal VPF that we obtain here is independent of the shape of the voids due to the parameter-free void finder of the CVC. We use three void populations drawn from the CVC generated by the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) Mocks, which are tuned to three mock SDSS samples to investigate the void distribution statistically and to investigate the effects of the environments on the size distribution. As a result, it is shown that void size distributions obtained from the HOD Mock samples are satisfied by the three-parameter log-normal distribution. In addition, we find that there may be a relation between the hierarchical formation, skewness, and kurtosis of the log-normal distribution for each catalog. We also show that the shape of the three-parameter distribution from the samples is strikingly similar to the galaxy log-normal mass distribution obtained from numerical studies. This similarity between void size and galaxy mass distributions may possibly indicate evidence of nonlinear mechanisms affecting both voids and galaxies, such as large-scale accretion and tidal effects. Considering the fact that in this study, all voids are generated by galaxy mocks and show hierarchical structures in different levels, it may be possible that the same nonlinear mechanisms of mass distribution affect the void size distribution.

THE INNER STRUCTURE OF DWARF-SIZED HALOS IN WARM AND COLD DARK MATTER COSMOLOGIES

ABSTRACT By means of N-body + hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations we study the evolution of the inner dark matter and stellar mass distributions of central dwarf galaxies formed in halos of virial masses M v = (2–3) × 1010 h −1 M ⊙ at z = 0, both in a warm dark matter (WDM) and cold dark matter (CDM) cosmology. The half-mode mass in the WDM power spectrum of our simulations is M f = 2 × 1010 h −1 M ⊙. In the dark matter (DM) only simulations halo density profiles are well described by the Navarro–Frenk–White parametric fit in both cosmologies, though the WDM halos have concentrations lower by factors of 1.5–2.0 than their CDM counterparts. In the hydrodynamic simulations, the effects of baryons significantly flatten the inner density, velocity dispersion, and pseudo phase space density profiles of the WDM halos but not of the CDM ones. The density slope, measured at ≈0.02R v, α 0.02, becomes shallow in periods of 2–5 Gyr in the WDM runs. We explore whether this flattening process correlates with the global star formation (SF), M s/M v ratio, gas outflow, and internal specific angular momentum histories. We do not find any clear trends, but when α 0.02 is shallower than −0.5, M s/M v is always between 0.25% and 1%. We conclude that the main reason for the formation of the shallow core is the presence of strong gas mass fluctuations inside the inner halo, which are a consequence of the feedback driven by a very bursty and sustained SF history in shallow gravitational potentials. Our WDM halos, which assemble late and are less concentrated than the CDM ones, obey these conditions. There are also (rare) CDM systems with extended mass assembly histories that obey these conditions and form shallow cores. The dynamical heating and expansion processes behind the DM core flattening apply also to the stars in such a way that the stellar age and metallicity gradients of the dwarfs are softened, their stellar half-mass radii strongly grow with time, and their central surface densities decrease.

Mass distributions in disk galaxies

AbstractWe present results on luminous and dark matter mass distributions in disk galaxies from the DiskMass Survey. As expected for normal disk galaxies, stars dominate the baryonic mass budget in the inner region of the disk; however, at about four optical scale lengths (hR) the atomic gas starts to become the dominant contributor. Unexpectedly, we find the total baryon to dark-matter fraction within a galaxy stays nearly constant with radius from 1hR out to at least 6hR, with a baryon fraction of 15–50% among galaxies. On average, only one third of the mass within 2.2hR in a disk galaxy is baryonic and these baryons appear to have had only a minor effect on the distribution of the dark matter.

Radio galaxies in ZFOURGE/NMBS: no difference in the properties of massive galaxies with and without radio-AGN out toz = 2.25

In order to reproduce the high-mass end of the galaxy mass-distribution, some process must be responsible for the suppression of star-formation in the most massive of galaxies. Commonly Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are invoked to fulfil this role, but the exact means by which they do so is still the topic of much debate, with studies finding evidence for both the suppression and enhancement of star-formation in AGN hosts. Using the ZFOURGE and NMBS galaxy surveys, we investigate the host galaxy properties of a mass-limited (M$_{\odot}$ $\ge$ 10$^{10.5}$ M$_{\odot}$), high-luminosity (L$_{1.4}$ $>$ 10$^{24}$ W Hz$^{-1}$) sample of radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei to a redshift of z = 2.25. In contrast to low redshift studies, which associate radio-AGN activity with quiescent hosts, we find that the majority of z $>$ 1.5 radio-AGN are hosted by star-forming galaxies. Indeed, the stellar populations of radio-AGN are found to evolve with redshift in a manner that is consistent with the non-AGN mass-similar galaxy population. Interestingly, we find the radio-AGN fraction is constant across a redshift range of 0.25 $\le$ z $<$ 2.25, perhaps indicating that the radio-AGN duty cycle has little dependence on redshift or galaxy type. We do however see a strong relation between the radio-AGN fraction and stellar mass, with radio-AGN becoming rare below $\sim$ 10$^{10.5}$ M$_{\odot}$ or a halo-mass of 10$^{12}$ M$_{\odot}$. This halo-mass threshold is in good agreement with simulations that initiate radio-AGN feedback at this mass limit. Despite this we find that radio-AGN host star-formation rates are consistent with the non-AGN mass-similar galaxy sample, suggesting that while radio-AGN are in the right place to suppress star-formation in massive galaxies they are not necessarily responsible for doing so.

Cosmological parameters from lenses distance ratio

Strong lensing provides popular techniques to investigate the mass distribution of intermediate redshift galaxies, testing galaxy evolution and formation scenarios. It especially probes the background cosmic expansion, hence constraining cosmological parameters. The measurement of Einstein radii and central velocity dispersions indeed allows to trace the ratio D_s/D_ls between the distance D_s from the observer to the source and the distance D_ls from the lens to the source. We present an improved method to explicitly include the two - component structure in the galaxy lens modeling, in order to analyze the role played by the redshift and the model dependence on a nuisance parameter, F_E, which is usually marginalized in the cosmological applications. We show how to deal with these problems and carry on a Fisher matrix analysis to infer the accuracy on cosmological parameters achieved by this method.

The effect of tides on the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy

Estimates of the mass distribution and dark-matter (DM) content of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are usually derived under the assumption that the effect of the tidal field of the host galaxy is negligible over the radial extent probed by kinematic data-sets. We assess the implications of this assumption in the specific case of the Fornax dSph by means of N-body simulations of a satellite orbiting around the Milky Way. We consider observationally-motivated orbits and we tailor the initial distributions of the satellite's stars and DM to match, at the end of the simulations, the observed structure and kinematics of Fornax. In all our simulations the present-day observable properties of Fornax are not significantly influenced by tidal effects. The DM component is altered by the interaction with the Galactic field (up to 20% of the DM mass within 1.6 kpc is lost), but the structure and kinematics of the stellar component are only mildly affected even in the more eccentric orbit (more than 99% of the stellar particles remain bound to the dwarf). In the simulations that successfully reproduce Fornax's observables, the dark-to-luminous mass ratio within 1.6 kpc is in the range 5-6, and up to 16-18 if measured within 3 kpc.

Model-free analysis of quadruply imaged gravitationally lensed systems and substructured galaxies

Multiple image gravitational lens systems, and especially quads are invaluable in determining the amount and distribution of mass in galaxies. This is usually done by mass modeling using parametric or free-form methods. An alternative way of extracting information about lens mass distribution is to use lensing degeneracies and invariants. Where applicable, they allow one to make conclusions about whole classes of lenses without model fitting. Here, we use approximate, but observationally useful invariants formed by the three relative polar angles of quad images around the lens center to show that many smooth elliptical+shear lenses can reproduce the same set of quad image angles within observational error. This result allows us to show in a model-free way what the general class of smooth elliptical+shear lenses looks like in the three dimensional (3D) space of image relative angles, and that this distribution does not match that of the observed quads. We conclude that, even though smooth elliptical+shear lenses can reproduce individual quads, they cannot reproduce the quad population. What is likely needed is substructure, with clump masses larger than those responsible for flux ratio anomalies in quads, or luminous or dark nearby perturber galaxies.

AGN EVOLUTION FROM A GALAXY EVOLUTION VIEWPOINT

We explore the connections between the evolving galaxy and AGN populations. We present a simple phenomenological model that links the evolving galaxy mass function and the evolving quasar luminosity function, which makes specific and testable predictions for the distribution of host galaxy masses for AGN of different luminosities. We show that the $\phi^{*}$ normalisations of the galaxy mass function and of the AGN luminosity function closely track each other over a wide range of redshifts, implying a constant "duty cycle" of AGN activity. The strong redshift evolution in the AGN $L^*$ can be produced by either an evolution in the distribution of Eddington ratios, or in the $m_{bh}/m_{*}$ mass ratio, or both. To try to break this degeneracy we look at the distribution of AGN in the SDSS ($m_{bh},L$) plane, showing that an evolving ratio $m_{bh}/m_{*} \propto (1+z)^2$ reproduces the observed data and also reproduces the local relations which connect the black hole population with the host galaxies for both quenched and star-forming populations. We stress that observational studies that compare the masses of black holes in active galaxies at high redshift with those in quiescent galaxies locally will always see much weaker evolution. Evolution of this form would produce, or could be produced by, a redshift-independent $m_{bh} - \sigma$ relation and could explain why the local $m_{bh} - \sigma$ relation is tighter than $m_{bh} - m_{*}$ even if $\sigma$ is not directly linked to black hole growth. Irrespective of the evolution of $m_{bh}/m_{*}$, the model reproduces both the appearance of "downsizing" and the so-called "sub-Eddington boundary" without any mass-dependence in the evolution of black hole growth rates.

CAN LIFE SURVIVE GAMMA-RAY BURSTS IN THE HIGH-REDSHIFT UNIVERSE?

Nearby Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) have been proposed as a possible cause of mass extinctions on Earth. Due to the higher event rate of GRBs at higher redshifts, it has been speculated that life as we know it may not survive above a certain redshift (e.g. $z>0.5$). We examine the duty cycle of lethal (life-threatening) GRBs in the solar neighborhood, in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies and GRB host galaxies, with the dependence of the long GRB rate on star formation and metallicity properly taken into account. We find that the number of lethal GRBs attacking Earth within the past 500 Myr ($\sim$ epoch of the Ordovician mass extinction) is $0.93$. The number of lethal GRBs hitting a certain planet increases with redshift, thanks to the increasing star formation rate and decreasing metallicity in high-$z$ galaxies. Taking 1 per 500 Myr as a conservative duty cycle for life to survive, as evidenced by our existence, we find that there are still a good fraction of SDSS galaxies beyond $z=0.5$ where the GRB rate at half-mass radius is lower than this value. We derive the fraction of such benign galaxies as a function of redshift through Monte Carlo simulations, and find that the fraction is $\sim 50\%$ at $z\sim 1.5$ and $\sim 10\%$ even at $z \sim 3$. The mass distribution of benign galaxies is dominated by Milky-Way-like ones, thanks to their commonness, relatively large mass, and low star formation rate. GRB host galaxies are among the most dangerous ones.

THE SPITZER SURVEY OF STELLAR STRUCTURE IN GALAXIES (S 4 G): STELLAR MASSES, SIZES, AND RADIAL PROFILES FOR 2352 NEARBY GALAXIES

The Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies is a volume, magnitude, and size-limited survey of 2352 nearby galaxies with deep imaging at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. In this paper, we describe our surface photometry pipeline and showcase the associated data products that we have released to the community. We also identify the physical mechanisms leading to different levels of central stellar mass concentration for galaxies with the same total stellar mass. Finally, we derive the local stellar mass–size relation at 3.6 μm for galaxies of different morphologies. Our radial profiles reach stellar mass surface densities below ~1 M⊙ pc^(-2). Given the negligible impact of dust and the almost constant mass-to-light ratio at these wavelengths, these profiles constitute an accurate inventory of the radial distribution of stellar mass in nearby galaxies. From these profiles we have also derived global properties such as asymptotic magnitudes (and the corresponding stellar masses), isophotal sizes and shapes, and concentration indices. These and other data products from our various pipelines (science-ready mosaics, object masks, 2D image decompositions, and stellar mass maps) can be publicly accessed at IRSA (http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/SPITZER/S4G/).