The ratio of the unseen halo mass to the luminous disk mass in NGC 891.
Abstract
The present investigation has the objective to provide an estimate of the range of halo to disk mass ratios which are compatible with the available observations for NGC 891 and to suggest ways by which future observations could add to the understanding of the mass distribution in this galaxy. It is found that the ratio of total halo to disk mass for NGC 891 varies by more than an order of magnitude for phenomenological models based on the available observations. The models with halo to disk mass ratios of order unity have self-gravitating stellar disks (close to the plane of the disk) out to galactocentric distances of at least as large as 21 kpc, the apparent truncation radius. A model with a very massive halo has a disk which is not self-gravitating beyond R approximately 7 kpc.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- April 1983
- DOI:
- 10.1086/160844
- Bibcode:
- 1983ApJ...267...52B
- Keywords:
-
- Galactic Rotation;
- Galactic Structure;
- Mass Ratios;
- Spiral Galaxies;
- Astronomical Models;
- Halos;
- Mass Distribution;
- Stellar Gravitation;
- Astrophysics