On the existence of a tight planar relation between stellar specific angular momentum, mass, and effective surface brightness for ALFALFA galaxies
| dc.contributor.author | Elson Ed | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-29T10:48:01Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-10-29T10:48:01Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Measurements of the dependence of stellar specific angular momentum (j∗) on stellar mass (M∗) are presented for large samples of galaxies from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey, spanning the stellar mass range ∼108–1011 M☉. Accurate estimates of j∗ are generated using measurements of I-band effective radius and velocity width of the H I line profile. While the full sample (N = 3607) of galaxies yields a j∗–M∗ relation with power-law index α = 0.404 ± 0.03, it is shown that various subsamples have indices that are very similar to the best literature results, yet with comparatively lower intrinsic scatters. A galaxy’s mean I-band surface brightness within its effective radius (<μeff>) is shown to significantly correlate with j∗–M∗ scatter. A 3D plane fit to all N = 3607 galaxies in log10j∗–log10M∗–<μeff> space yields j∗ ∝ M0.589 ± 0.002 <μeff>0.193 ± 0.002 with scatter σ = 0.089 dex. <μeff>-selected subsamples of size up to N = 1450 yield power-law j∗–M∗ relations mostly consistent with α = 0.55 ± 0.02 from the literature and with intrinsic scatter ranging from 0.083 to 0.129 dex. Thus, this paper presents new, highly accurate measurements of the j∗–M∗ relation that can be used to better understand the important roles played by angular momentum in the formation and evolution of galaxies. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Elson, E., 2024. On the existence of a tight planar relation between stellar specific angular momentum, mass, and effective surface brightness for ALFALFA galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527(1), pp.931-941. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad3316 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21273 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Oxford University Press | |
| dc.subject | NATURAL SCIENCES::Physics::Other physics::Non-linear dynamics, chaos | |
| dc.subject | Galaxies: evolution | |
| dc.subject | Galaxies: kinematics | |
| dc.title | On the existence of a tight planar relation between stellar specific angular momentum, mass, and effective surface brightness for ALFALFA galaxies | |
| dc.type | Article |