We report the discovery of a nuclear stellar disk in 3 early-type spirals, namely NGC 1425, NGC 3898 and NGC 4698, revealed by WFPC2/F606W images out of a sample of 38 spiral galaxies, selected from the HST Data Archive. We derived their central surface brightness and scalelength by assuming them to be infinitesimally thin exponential disks. No nuclear disk was found in barred galaxies or galaxies of Hubble type later than Sb. The disks have scalelength of about 20 to 30 pc and are the first of this kind found in spiral galaxies. The external origin of the disk in NGC 4698 is proved by its orthogonal geometrical decoupling with respect to the host galaxy.
Nuclear stellar disks in spiral galaxies
PIZZELLA, ALESSANDRO;CORSINI, ENRICO MARIA;MORELLI, LORENZO;SARZI, MARC;BERTOLA, FRANCESCO
2003
Abstract
We report the discovery of a nuclear stellar disk in 3 early-type spirals, namely NGC 1425, NGC 3898 and NGC 4698, revealed by WFPC2/F606W images out of a sample of 38 spiral galaxies, selected from the HST Data Archive. We derived their central surface brightness and scalelength by assuming them to be infinitesimally thin exponential disks. No nuclear disk was found in barred galaxies or galaxies of Hubble type later than Sb. The disks have scalelength of about 20 to 30 pc and are the first of this kind found in spiral galaxies. The external origin of the disk in NGC 4698 is proved by its orthogonal geometrical decoupling with respect to the host galaxy.
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