Photometric vs dynamical stellar masses and their impact on scaling relations in nearby disc galaxies

Abstract

The study of scaling relations of disc galaxies and their evolution across cosmic time requires accurate estimates of galaxy stellar masses $M_\star$ over broad redshift ranges. While photometric $M_\star$ estimates ($M_{\rm phot}$) based on spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling methods are employed routinely at high-$z$, it is unclear to what extent these are compatible with dynamical $M_\star$ estimates ($M_{\rm dyn}$), available for nearby galaxies. Here we compare newly determined, SED-model based $M_{\rm phot}$ with previously obtained $M_{\rm dyn}$ inferred via rotation curve decomposition techniques in a sample of $\sim100$ nearby galaxies from the SPARC database. We find that the two mass estimates show a systematic agreement at the $\sim12\%$ ($0.05$ dex) level and a $\sim55\%$ ($0.22$ dex) scatter across almost $5$ dex in $M_\star$. Our $M_{\rm phot}$ estimates correspond to mass-to-light ratios in the $3.6\mu$m band that increase gradually with $3.6\mu$m luminosity, as a consequence of the earlier (later) assembly history of high-mass (low-mass) disc galaxies. The choice of using either $M_{\rm dyn}$ or $M_{\rm phot}$ has only a marginal impact on the slope and zero-point of the Tully-Fisher and Fall relations: the observed orthogonal scatter in both relations is virtually the same for the two methods, and indistinguishable from that derived using a constant mass-to-light ratio in the $3.6\mu$m band. $M_\star$ estimates based on the assumption that discs are marginally stable lead to the largest scatter in the scaling relations.