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Using angular momentum maps to detect kinematically distinct galactic components
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 22:39 authored by Dimitrios Irodotou, Peter ThomasPeter ThomasIn this work, we introduce a physically motivated method of performing disc/spheroid decomposition of simulated galaxies, which we apply to the EAGLE sample. We make use of the HEALPIX package to create Mollweide projections of the angular momentum map of each galaxy’s stellar particles. A number of features arise on the angular momentum space which allows us to decompose galaxies and classify them into different morphological types. We assign stellar particles with angular separation of less/greater than 30° from the densest grid cell on the angular momentum sphere to the disc/spheroid components, respectively. We analyse the spatial distribution for a subsample of galaxies and show that the surface density profiles of the disc and spheroid closely follow an exponential and a Sérsic profile, respectively. In addition discs rotate faster, have smaller velocity dispersions, are younger and are more metal rich than spheroids. Thus, our morphological classification reproduces the observed properties of such systems. Finally, we demonstrate that our method is able to identify a significant population of galaxies with counter-rotating discs and provide a more realistic classification of such systems compared to previous methods.
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Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyISSN
0035-8711Publisher
Oxford University PressExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
501Page range
2182-2197Department affiliated with
- Physics and Astronomy Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2021-01-06First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-01-06First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2021-01-06Usage metrics
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