Multiwavelength Bulge-Disk Decomposition for the Galaxy M81 (NGC 3031). I. Morphology
Authors: Ye-Wei Mao, Jun-Yu Gong, Hua Gao, Si-Yue Yu
AI-generated Key Points
- Panchromatic investigation of the morphology of early-type spiral galaxy M81
- Bulge-disk decomposition performed at 20 different wavebands
- Morphological parameters derived for both bulge and disk
- Morphology of M81 varies with wavelength
- Sersic index and effective radius show variable-slope trend
- Position angle and axis ratio remain relatively constant in optical-NIR range
- Sersic index for bulge drops in UV bands, suggesting misidentification as pseudo-bulge or no bulge at high redshifts
- Future work includes studying spatially resolved spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for bulge and disk separately
- Importance of multiwavelength observations when studying galaxy morphology highlighted
- Findings have implications for understanding galaxy evolution over cosmic time and provide insights into structural properties.
Abstract: A panchromatic investigation of morphology for the early-type spiral galaxy M81 is presented in this paper. We perform bulge-disk decomposition in M81 images at totally 20 wavebands from FUV to NIR obtained with GALEX, Swift, SDSS, WIYN, 2MASS, WISE, and Spitzer. Morphological parameters such as Sersic index, effective radius, position angle, and axis ratio for the bulge and the disk are thus derived at all the wavebands, which enables quantifying the morphological K-correction for M81 and makes it possible to reproduce images for the bulge and the disk in the galaxy at any waveband. The morphology as a function of wavelength appears as a variable-slope trend of the Sersic index and the effective radius, in which the variations are steep at UV--optical and shallow at optical--NIR bands; the position angle and the axis ratio keep invariable at least at optical--NIR bands. It is worth noting that, the Sersic index for the bulge reaches to about 4--5 at optical and NIR bands, but drops to about 1 at UV bands. This difference brings forward a caveat that, a classical bulge is likely misidentified for a pseudo-bulge or no bulge at high redshifts where galaxies are observed through rest-frame UV channels with optical telescopes. The next work of this series is planned to study spatially resolved SEDs for the bulge and the disk, respectively, and thereby explore stellar population properties and star formation/quenching history for the the galaxy composed of the subsystems.
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