Truncated stellar discs in the near infrared II. Statistical properties and interpretation

© ESO 2006. This paper has been supported by the “Plan Andaluz de Investigación” (FQM-108) and by the “Secretaría de Estado de Política Científica y Tecnológica” (AYA2004-08251-C02-02, ESP2004-06870-C02-02). We are indebted to Andrés González Carmona who helped us with the statistical analysis. We also acknowledge the LEDA data base organisation, which was highly useful for this research. Thanks to the anonymous referee for valuable comments and suggestions that have contributted to improve the final version of the paper.
The results obtained in Paper I are used to study possible relationships between the truncation radius of stellar discs in the NIR and structural parameters of the galaxies. The NIR truncation radius is larger for brighter galaxies, being proportional to V(m)(c) with c approximate to 3/2, and with V(m) being the asymptotic rotation velocity at large radii (when the rotation curve becomes flat), and is lower for higher wavelengths. When it is normalized to the scalelength, the truncation is an increasing function of the central surface brightness and is lower for late type galaxies, although these correlations are weaker. These relations are in agreement with the scenario of magnetically driven truncations.
Plan Andaluz de Investigación
Secretaría de Estado de Política Científica y Tecnológica
Depto. de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica
Fac. de Ciencias Físicas
TRUE
pub