Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Galaxy zoo builder: Morphological dependence of...

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Galaxy zoo builder: Morphological dependence of spiral galaxy pitch angle: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
  • T. Lingard
  • K.L. Masters
  • C. Krawczyk
  • C. Lintott
  • S. Kruk
  • B. Simmons
  • W. Keel
  • R.C. Nichol
  • E. Baeten
Close
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>31/07/2021
<mark>Journal</mark>Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.
Issue number3
Volume504
Number of pages11
Pages (from-to)3364-3374
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Spiral structure is ubiquitous in the Universe, and the pitch angle of arms in spiral galaxies provide an important observable in efforts to discriminate between different mechanisms of spiral arm formation and evolution. In this paper, we present a hierarchical Bayesian approach to galaxy pitch angle determination, using spiral arm data obtained through the Galaxy Builder citizen science project. We present a new approach to deal with the large variations in pitch angle between different arms in a single galaxy, which obtains full posterior distributions on parameters. We make use of our pitch angles to examine previously reported links between bulge and bar strength and pitch angle, finding no correlation in our data (with a caveat that we use observational proxies for both bulge size and bar strength which differ from other work). We test a recent model for spiral arm winding, which predicts uniformity of the cotangent of pitch angle between some unknown upper and lower limits, finding our observations are consistent with this model of transient and recurrent spiral pitch angle as long as the pitch angle at which most winding spirals dissipate or disappear is larger than 10°. © 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.

Bibliographic note

Export Date: 24 June 2021 CODEN: MNRAA Correspondence Address: Lingard, T.; Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Burnaby Road, United Kingdom; email: tim.lingard@port.ac.uk References: Al-Baidhany, I. A., Chiad, S. S., Jabbar, W. A., Hussein, R. A., Hussain, F. F. K., Habubi, N. F., (2019) Materials Science and Engineering Conference Series, p. 012118. , IOP Publishing Ltd; Athanassoula, E., Romero-Ǵomez, M., Bosma, A., Masdemont, J. J., (2009) MNRAS, 400, p. 1706; Athanassoula, E., Romero-Ǵomez, M., Masdemont, J. J., (2009) MNRAS, 394, p. 67; Baba, J., Saitoh, T. R., Wada, K., (2013) ApJ, 763, p. 46; Binney, J., Tremaine, S., (1987) Galactic Dynamics, , Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. (USA); Blanton, M. R., Kazin, E., Muna, D., Weaver, B. A., Price-Whelan, A., (2011) AJ, 142, p. 31; Buta, R., (1989) GalaxyMorphology, p. 151. , Capaccioli M., Corwin Harold G., eds, World Scientific Publications, Singapore; Buta, R. J., (2013) GalaxyMorphology, p. 155. , Falćon-Barroso J.,Knapen J. H., eds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK); Cedrés, B., Cepa, J., Bongiovanni, Á, Castan, edaH., Sánchez-Portal, M., Tomita, A., (2013) A&A, 560, p. A59; Considere, S., Athanassoula, E., (1988) A&AS, 76, p. 365; Daniel, K. J., Wyse, R. F. G., (2018) MNRAS, 476, p. 1561; Davis, B. L., Berrier, J. C., Shields, D. W., Kennefick, J., Kennefick, D., Seigar, M. S., Lacy, C. H. S., Puerari, I., (2012) ApJS, 199, p. 33; Davis, B. L., Graham, A. W., Cameron, E., (2019) ApJ, 873, p. 85; Davis, B. L., Graham, A. W., Seigar, M. S., (2017) MNRAS, 471, p. 2187; Davis, D. R., Hayes, W. B., (2014) ApJ, 790, p. 87; deVaucouleurs, G., deVaucouleurs, A., Corwin Herold, G. J., Buta, R. J., Paturel, G., Fouque, P., (1991) Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies, , Springer, New York, N.Y. (USA); D?az-Garć?a, S., Salo, H., Knapen, J. H., Herrera-Endoqui, M., (2019) A&A, 631, p. A94; Dobbs, C., Baba, J., (2014) Publ. Astron. Soc. Austr, 31, p. e035; Dobbs, C. L., (2014) Proc. IAU Symp. 298, Setting the scene for Gaia and LAMOST, p. 221. , Feltzing S., Zhao G., Walton N. A., Whitelock P., eds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK); Dobbs, C. L., Theis, C., Pringle, J. E., Bate, M. R., (2010) MNRAS, 403, p. 625; Elmegreen, B. G., (2011) EAS Publications Series, 51, p. 19. , Charbonnel C., Montmerle T., eds, EAS Publications Series, EDP Sciences, Les Ulis (France); Elmegreen, D. M., Elmegreen, B. G., (1982) MNRAS, 201, p. 1021; Elmegreen, D. M., (2011) ApJ, 737, p. 32; Fisher, D. B., Drory, N., (2010) ApJ, 716, p. 942; Gadotti, D. A., (2009) MNRAS, 393, p. 1531; Gao, H., Ho, L. C., (2017) ApJ, 845, p. 114; Goldreich, P., Lynden-Bell, D., (1965) MNRAS, 130, p. 125; Grand, R. J. J., Kawata, D., Cropper, M., (2012) MNRAS, 426, p. 167; Hart, R. E., (2017) MNRAS, 472, p. 2263; Herrera-Endoqui, M., D?az-Garć?a, S., Laurikainen, E., Salo, H., (2015) A&A, 582, p. A86; Hewitt, I. B., Treuthardt, P., (2020) MNRAS, 493, p. 3854; Hoffman, M. D., Gelman, A., (2011), preprint (arXiv:1111.4246); Honig, Z. N., Reid, M. J., (2015) ApJ, 800, p. 53; Hubble, E. P., (1926) ApJ, 64, p. 321; Jones, E., (2001) SciPy: Open source scientific tools for Python, , http://www.scipy.org/, (last accessed: 04 April 2021); Julian, W. H., Toomre, A., (1966) ApJ, 146, p. 810; Kennicutt, R. C. J., (1981) AJ, 86, p. 1847; Kormendy, J., Kennicutt Robert, C. J., (2004) ARA&A, 42, p. 603; Kruk, S. J., (2018) MNRAS, 473, p. 4731; Lin, C. C., Shu, F. H., (1964) ApJ, 140, p. 646; Lingard, T. K., (2020) ApJ, 900, p. 178; Lintott, C. J., (2008) MNRAS, 389, p. 1179; Mark, J. W. K., (1976) ApJ, 205, p. 363; Masters, K. L., (2012) MNRAS, 424, p. 2180; Masters, K. L., (2019) MNRAS, 487, p. 1808; Mutlu-Pakdil, B., Seigar, M. S., Hewitt, I. B., Treuthardt, P., Berrier, J. C., Koval, L. E., (2018) MNRAS, 474, p. 2594; Peng, C. Y., Ho, L. C., Impey, C. D., Rix, H.-W., (2010) AJ, 139, p. 2097; Pringle, J. E., Dobbs, C. L., (2019) MNRAS, 490, p. 1470; Ringermacher, H. I., Mead, L. R., (2009) MNRAS, 397, p. 164; Rodriguez-Fernandez, N. J., Combes, F., (2008) A&A, 489, p. 115; Romero-Ǵomez, M., Masdemont, J. J., Athanassoula, E., Garć?a-Ǵomez, C., (2006) A&A, 453, p. 39; Salvatier, J., Wiecki, T. V., Fonnesbeck, C., (2016) PeerJ Comput. Sci, p. 55; Sandage, A., (1961) The Hubble Atlas of Galaxies, , Carnegie Institution, Washington (USA); Sandage, A., (2005) ARA&A, 43, p. 581; Sanders, R. H., Huntley, J. M., (1976) ApJ, 209, p. 53; Savchenko, S. S., Reshetnikov, V. P., (2013) MNRAS, 436, p. 1074; Scholz, F. W., Stephens, M. A., (1987) J. Am. Stat. Assoc, 82, p. 918; Seigar, M. S., Block, D. L., Puerari, I., Chorney, N. E., James, P. A., (2005) MNRAS, 359, p. 1065; Seigar, M. S., Kennefick, D., Kennefick, J., Lacy, C. H. S., (2008) ApJ, 678, p. L93; Semczuk, M., okas, E. L., del Pino, A., (2017) ApJ, 834, p. 7; Skibba, R. A., (2012) MNRAS, 423, p. 1485; Stephens, M. A., (1974) J. Am. Stat. Assoc, 69, p. 730; Toomre, A., (1981) Structure and Evolution of Normal Galaxies, p. 111. , Fall S. M., Lynden-Bell D., eds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK); Valĺee, J. P., (2015) MNRAS, 450, p. 4277; Willett, K. W., (2013) MNRAS, 435, p. 2835; Yoshizawa, M., Wakamatsu, K., (1975) A&A, 44, p. 363; Yu, S.-Y., Ho, L. C., (2019) ApJ, 871, p. 194