Edge-on galaxies relative to edge-on view of the Local Supercluster

Abstract

Cosmological theories suggest that the angular momentum of galaxies should be closely linked to the structure of the cosmic web. The Local Supercluster is the closest and most studied structure where the orientation of galaxy spins can be studied. As noted by Navarro et al. (2004), the use of edge-on galaxies greatly simplifies this task by reducing it to an analysis of the distribution of position angles in the Supergalactic coordinates. We reexamine this correlation using modern catalogs that allow us to perform a more robust statistical analysis. We test the dependence on redshift, spatial position, luminosity, and color. We find that the spins of galaxies with stellar mass $M_*<10^{8.7}$ $M_\odot$ show a weak tendency to be aligned perpendicular to the plane of the Local Supercluster at the 2-sigma level. Other subsamples do not show statistically significant correlations.