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 Rco. We confirm for this sample the existence of such sharp truncations, and find a significantly lower mean value of the distance independent ratio Rco/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 Rco/h and the distance based scalelength in linear units. Compared to the Milky Way we find only lower values of Rco/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.
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