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Faint Surface Photometry of the Halo of M31

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Chris Pritchet  and
Sidney van den Bergh
Chris Pritchet
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 3P6
Sidney van den Bergh
Affiliation:
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, 5071 W. Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, Canada V8X 4M6

Abstract

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We have obtained counts of stars near the tip of the red giant branch of M31, and have used these counts to estimate the surface brightness of the halo of M31 down to a level of μV ∼ 30 mag arcsec–2 (R ∼ 20 kpc). The surface brightness along the minor axis of the M31 halo is well-represented by a single de Vaucouleurs law (0.2 ≃ R[kpc] ≃ 20). Alternatively, the outer halo of M31 can also be modelled by a power-law density distribution of the form ρ(R) ∞ R –5. This result suggests that the globular cluster component of the halo of M31 (for which ρ ∞ R –3) is more extended than the stellar halo of this galaxy. At μv à 28 mag arcsec–2 (R à 10 kpc), the axial ratio of the halo of M31 is found to be c/a = 0.55 ± 0.05.

Type
Chapter 1: Are the Disk and Halo Axisymmetric?
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 169: Unsolved Problems of the Milky Way , 1996 , pp. 39 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1996 

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