Cut-off radii of galactic disks: A statistical study on the truncation of galactic disks

Abstract

We present the analysis of a CCD survey of 31 nearby (<= 110 Mpc) edge-on spiral galaxies. The three-dimensional one-component best fit models provide their disk-scalelengths h and for the first time their disk cut-off radii R_{co}. We confirm for this sample the existence of such sharp truncations, and find a significantly lower mean value of the distance independent ratio R_{co}/h =2.9 +- 0.7 than the standard value of 4.5 often used in the literature. Our data show no correlation of these parameters with Hubble type, whereas we report a correlation between R_{co}/h and the distance based scalelength in linear units. Compared to the Milky Way we find only lower values of R_{co}/h, explained either by possible selection effects or by the completely different techniques used. We discuss our data in respect to present models for the origin of the cut-off radii, either as a relict of the galaxy formation process, or as an evolutionary phenomenon.