Estimation of the Space Density of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

Abstract

The space density of low surface brightness and tiny gas-rich dwarf galaxies are estimated for two recent catalogs: The Arecibo Survey of Northern Dwarf and Low Surface Brightness Galaxies (Schneider, Thuan, Magri & Wadiak 1990) and The Catalog of Low Surface Brightness Galaxy, List II (Schombert, Bothun, Schneider & McGaugh 1992). The goals are (1) to evaluate the additions to the completeness of the Fisher and Tully (1981) 10 Mpc Sample and (2) to estimate whether the density of galaxies contained in the new catalogs adds a significant amount of neutral gas mass to the the inventory of HI already identified in the nearby, present-epoch universe. Although tiny dwarf galaxies (M_HI < ~10^7 solar masses) may be the most abundant type of extragalactic stellar system in the nearby Universe, if the new catalogs are representative, the LSB and dwarf populations they contain make only a small addition (<10%) to the total HI content of the local Universe and probably constitute even smaller fractions of its luminous and dynamical mass.