VII/266 Atlas of Virgo galaxies (McDonald+ 2011)
A multi-wavelength atlas for structural and stellar-populations studies of
Virgo galaxies
McDonald M., Courteau S., Tully R.B., Roediger J.
<Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 414, 2055 (2011)>
=2011MNRAS.414.2055M 2011MNRAS.414.2055M
ADC_Keywords: Galaxies, photometry ; Photometry, surface
Keywords: surveys ; galaxies: clusters: individual: Virgo ;
galaxies: fundamental parameters ; galaxies: general ;
galaxies: photometry ; galaxies: structure
Description:
This database contains surface brightness profiles in the optical
g, r, i, z bands and near-IR H-band for 286 Virgo cluster galaxies.
This morphologically-complete sample spans a huge range in galaxy
size, luminosity, surface brightness and stellar populations.
These data have been used to study the luminosity and surface
brightness distribution of Virgo cluster galaxies, in McDonald et
al. (2009MNRAS.394.2022M 2009MNRAS.394.2022M). We find compelling evidence for bimodal
populations in surface brightness, with both early- and late-type
galaxies having a dearth of intermediate surface brightness galaxies.
Most convincing is our confirmation of the result by Tully and
Verheijen that the surface brightness of galaxy disks are strongly
bimodal (1997ApJ...484..145T 1997ApJ...484..145T)
The near-IR H-band data have been obtained from a variety of
telescopes. We downloaded archival images for 31/286 and 84/286 bright
galaxies from the 2MASS and GOLDMine online databases, respectively.
The remaining 171 galaxies have new observations from the UH 2.2-m
(130/286), CFHT (20/286) and UKIRT (21/286) telescopes. These data
were all reduced in a homogeneous way, as outlined in our data paper.
The optical g, r, i, z data were all obtained from the SDSS archives.
Surface brightness profiles were extracted homogeneously from the
optical and near-IR data following similar procedures, as outlined
in our paper (2011MNRAS.414.2055M 2011MNRAS.414.2055M)
The parametric and non-parametric parameters from bulge-disk
decompositions of 285 optical griz and near-IR H-band surface
brightness (SB) profiles are given in the bdd_* files in this
directory. The profiles are stored in the "prof_g", "prof_r",
"prof_i", "prof_z" and "prof_h" subdirectories, one for each color.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
vcc.dat 116 286 Summary of the galaxies observed
bdd_g.dat 180 285 Bulge-disk Decomposition in g-band
bdd_r.dat 180 285 Bulge-disk Decomposition in r-band
bdd_i.dat 180 285 Bulge-disk Decomposition in i-band
bdd_z.dat 180 282 Bulge-disk Decomposition in z-band
bdd_h.dat 180 286 Bulge-disk Decomposition in H-band
prof_g/* 132 285 Profiles in SDSS-g band
prof_r/* 132 285 Profiles in SDSS-r band
prof_i/* 132 285 Profiles in SDSS-i band
prof_z/* 132 285 Profiles in SDSS-z band
prof_h/* 132 286 Profiles in 2MASS-H band
img/* . 285 Images (100x100pix) of the galaxies
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Description of files: bdd_*.dat
Due to the morphological completeness of this sample, the variety
of light profiles shapes are vast. We have attempted to model the
distribution of light with a combination of a Sersic (bulge) and
exponential (disk) function, as described in McDonald et al.
(2009MNRAS.393..628M 2009MNRAS.393..628M). While these functions are fair representations
of the light distribution in spiral galaxies, they do not adequately
fit the variety of light profiles for our full range of galaxy types.
Description of files: prof_h/*
Each H-band SB profile has the filename format "VCC#####NNNH.prof"
where
* ##### refers to the Virgo Cluster Catalogue number
(Binggeli et al. 1985, Cat. J/AJ/90/1681)
* NNN refers to the data source. The following source codes are used:
H05 -- University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope w/ ULBCAM detector (2005)
H06 -- University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope w/ ULBCAM detector (2006)
H07 -- University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope w/ ULBCAM detector (2007)
H08 -- University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope w/ ULBCAM detector (2008)
CFH -- Canada France Hawaii telescope w/ WIRCAM detector
UKT -- United Kingdom Infrared Telescope w/ WFCAM detector
2MS -- Two-Micron All Sky Survey data (2MASS)
C94 -- GOLDMine data: CA 2.2m telescope, MAGIC NICMOS3 detector (1994)
C95 -- GOLDMine data: CA 2.2m telescope, MAGIC NICMOS3 detector (1995)
C97 -- GOLDMine data: CA 2.2m telescope, MAGIC NICMOS3 detector (1997)
C99 -- GOLDMine data: CA 2.2m telescope, MAGIC NICMOS3 detector (1999)
N00 -- GOLDMine data: ESO NTT 3.6m telescope, SofI detector (2000)
T97 -- GOLDMine data: TIRGO 1.5m telescope, ARNICA detector (1997)
G99 -- GOLDMine data: TNG 3.6m telescope, ARNICA detector (1999)
G01 -- GOLDMine data: TNG 3.6m telescope, ARNICA detector (1999)
Each H-band SB profile has several header entries, followed by the
profile columns.
Data Base Caveats for the H profiles:
* The isophotal analysis has, in most cases, been extended to radii
where the noise is significant. Thus, a radial cutoff must be enforced
in order to use only the best data. We have found that using a maximum
SB error of ∼0.2 mag/arcsec2 (roughly 0.3% of the sky level), and
excluding all other data, provides a suitable cut.
* Due to the heterogeneous nature of this sample, the depth, pixel
scale and seeing for all available SB profiles can vary greatly. An
auxiliary file, fwhm.log, lists the seeing FWHM for each profile. The
pixel scale is obvious from the radial sampling of the SB profiles.
* The sky brightness in the SB profile header may not be meaningful for
GOLDMine archival data due to pre-subtraction of the background. For
all data taken by us (H0#, CFH, UKT) and the 2MASS (2MS) data, the sky
brightness should be accurate. Typical H-band sky background levels
are ∼14 mag/arcsec2.
Description of files: prof_[griz]/*
Each SB profile has the filename format "VCC#####Fcorr.prof" where
* ##### refers to the Virgo Cluster Catalogue number
(Binggeli et al. 1985, Cat. J/AJ/90/1681)
* F refers to the filter, either: g r i or z.
Each SB profile has several header entries, followed by the
profile columns.
Data Base Caveats for the [griz] profiles:
* The isophotal analysis has, in most cases, been extended to radii
where the noise is significant. Thus, a radial cutoff must be enforced
in order to use only the best data. We have found that using a maximum
SB error of ∼0.2 mag/arcsec2 (roughly 0.3% of the sky level), and
excluding all other data, provides a suitable cut.
* In many cases, the systematic error due to incorrect sky estimates
can dominate the random errors at large radii. We have found that
the g-band profiles are typically unreliable at surface brightnesses
fainter than ∼ 25-26 mag/arcsec2.
* NOTE: We recommend that users consider the surface brightness
profiles with the 1-σ sky error envelopes in order to
fully appreciate these limitations.
SB(upper) = -2.5*log10[10**(-0.4*SB) +
10**(-0.4*sky) -
10**(-0.4*(sky-skyerr)]
SB(lower) = -2.5*log10[10**(-0.4*SB) +
10**(-0.4*sky) -
10**(-0.4*(sky+skyerr)]
See also:
http://www.astro.queensu.ca/virgo/ : Virgo Cluster Galaxy
Surface Brightness Profiles
J/AJ/90/1681 : The Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC) (Binggeli+, 1985)
J/ApJ/660/1186 : VCC galaxies classification with SDSS (Lisker+, 2007)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: vcc.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 3 A3 --- --- [VCC]
4- 7 I04 --- VCC VCC (Virgo Cluster Catalog) number
9- 13 A5 --- Qual [3210] Quality of profile for grizH bands (G1)
15- 19 F5.2 mag gmagT ?=- g-band Total flux, extrapolated to infinity
22- 26 F5.2 mag rmagT ?=- r-band Total flux, extrapolated to infinity
29- 33 F5.2 mag imagT ?=- i-band Total flux, extrapolated to infinity
36- 40 F5.2 mag zmagT ?=- z-band Total flux, extrapolated to infinity
43- 47 F5.2 mag HmagT H-band Total flux, extrapolated to infinity
51- 54 F4.2 --- g.ell ?=- g-band ellipticity
56- 59 F4.2 --- r.ell ?=- r-band ellipticity
61- 64 F4.2 --- i.ell ?=- i-band ellipticity
66- 69 F4.2 --- z.ell ?=- z-band ellipticity
71- 74 F4.2 --- H.ell H-band ellipticity
77- 80 F4.2 --- g.B/T ?=- g-band Bulge to Total ratio
82- 85 F4.2 --- r.B/T ?=- r-band Bulge to Total ratio
87- 90 F4.2 --- i.B/T ?=- i-band Bulge to Total ratio
92- 95 F4.2 --- z.B/T ?=- z-band Bulge to Total ratio
97-100 F4.2 --- H.B/T H-band Bulge to Total ratio
102-116 A15 --- Mtype Morphological class (from NED)
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: bdd*.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 3 A3 --- --- [VCC]
4- 7 I04 --- VCC Galaxy name from the VCC catalog
11- 11 I1 --- Q [1/3] Quality of fit (G1)
15- 24 E10.4 mag m(tot) Total flux, extrapolated to infinity
28- 37 E10.4 --- ell(d) Disk ellipticity
41- 50 E10.4 --- B/T Bulge to total ratio
54- 63 E10.4 --- C28 Galaxy light concentration
67- 76 E10.4 mag/arcsec2 mu50 ?=100 Effective surface brightness (SB)
80- 89 E10.4 arcsec r50 Effective radius
93-102 E10.4 mag/arcsec2 mu(d) ?=100 Effective SB of disk
106-115 E10.4 arcsec r(d) Effective radius of disk
119-128 E10.4 mag/arcsec2 mu(b) ?=100 Effective SB of bulge
132-141 E10.4 arcsec r(b) Effective radius of bulge
145-154 E10.4 --- n(b) ?=100 Sersic index n for bulge
158-167 E10.4 mag m(n) ?=- Total flux of nucleus, in mag
171-180 E10.4 arcsec FWHM ? Moffat seeing width
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Byte-by-byte Description of file (15 heading lines): prof_[griz]/*
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 F7.2 arcsec Radius Major-axis radius
10- 17 F8.3 mag/arcsec2 SB Median surface brightness
19- 25 F7.3 mag/arcsec2 e_SB ?=--- 1-σ error in surface brightness
28- 33 F6.3 --- Ellip Isophote ellipticity
36- 40 F5.1 deg PA ?=--- Isophote position angle
43- 49 F7.3 mag EMAG Total flux inside elliptical contour
52- 58 F7.3 mag ELLMAG Same as EMAG but different algorithm
61- 67 F7.3 mag e_ELLMAG Error in ELLMAG
70- 76 F7.2 pix XC X center of isophote
79- 85 F7.2 pix YC Y center of isophote
87- 93 F7.4 --- --- ?=--- FRACONT
96-102 F7.1 --- A1 ?=--- Fourier coefficient
104-110 F7.1 --- A2 ?=--- Fourier coefficient
112-118 F7.1 --- A4 ?=--- Fourier coefficient
126-132 F7.3 mag CIRCMAG Integrated flux interior to circle
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Byte-by-byte Description of file (13 heading lines): prof_h/*
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 F7.2 arcsec Radius Major-axis radius
10- 17 F8.3 mag/arcsec2 SB Median surface brightness
19- 25 F7.3 mag/arcsec2 e_SB ?=--- 1-σ error in surface brightness
28- 33 F6.3 --- Ellip Isophote ellipticity
36- 40 F5.1 deg PA ?=--- Isophote position angle
43- 49 F7.3 mag EMAG Total flux inside elliptical contour
52- 58 F7.3 mag ELLMAG Same as EMAG but different algorithm
61- 67 F7.3 mag e_ELLMAG Error in ELLMAG
70- 76 F7.2 pix XC X center of isophote
79- 85 F7.2 pix YC Y center of isophote
87- 93 F7.4 --- --- ?=--- FRACONT
96-102 F7.1 --- A1 ?=--- Fourier coefficient
104-110 F7.1 --- A2 ?=--- Fourier coefficient
112-118 F7.1 --- A4 ?=--- Fourier coefficient
126-132 F7.3 mag CIRCMAG Integrated flux interior to circle
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Global Notes:
Note (G1):
In order to quantify how successful our bulge-disk decompositions are
in modeling the surface brightness profiles of our sample galaxies, we
have assessed the quality of each fit by eye and given it a grade from
1 to 3. These grades are assigned as follows:
3 = Good, well-constrained fit over the full radial extent. (∼84%)
2 = Data is well fit by the models, but the models may not be
be realistic for one of several reasons (∼15%)
* Poorly constrained disk component
(subdominant for majority of profile)
* Shallow profile, less than 2 disk scale lengths
* Bulge becomes dominant again at large radius
1 = Poor quality data or very bad fit to data. Unreliable. (∼1%)
As a general guide, we do not recommend using the parametric
parameters from fits graded 1 and 2. Non-parametric parameters
can be trusted for fits with quality 2 or 3, but not 1.
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Acknowledgements:
Files prepared and submitted by Mike McDonald (Univ. Maryland)
References and Citations:
Use of these data should reference one or more of the following works,
depending on the application:
* McDonald et al. 2009MNRAS.393..628M 2009MNRAS.393..628M:
Bulge-disk decomposition techniques and software
* McDonald et al. 2009MNRAS.394.2022M 2009MNRAS.394.2022M:
Sample definition, structural analysis
* McDonald et al. 2011MNRAS.414.2055M 2011MNRAS.414.2055M (this paper):
Surface brightness profiles and tables of structural parameters
(End) Michael McDonald [U. Maryland], Francois Ochsenbein [CDS] 20-Apr-2011