Observations of Near-Infrared Selected LSB Galaxies

Abstract

Low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies are the class of galaxies with the least well known global properties and evolutionary histories. Their study appears promising for insight on important aspects like the dark matter component and the formation of galaxies. Previous LSB surveys were made in the optical, and most LSBs studied are blue. We have initiated a project to study near-infrared selected LSBs using 2MASS I, Hand K -band all-sky survey data as well as southern sky DENIS 1- band survey data. Though these surveys are less sensitive than dedicated optical searches for LSB objects, they have the advantage of covering (half) the entire sky, in a wavelength range where no large-scale search for LSBs has been made yet. To select these objects, which lie at the limit of detectability of these surveys, we use dedicated LSB source recognition software on the 2MASS data, as well as standard 2MASS survey products. We have defined a pilot sample of a few hundred LSBs (in majority previously uncatalogued) and we will complete the near-infrared survey observations with H I line observations and U B V R CCO photometry. Single-dish H I line observations will be obtained in the declination range +60° to -39°, using the renovated 300m Arecibo and 100m-class Nançay telescopes. The optical broadband photometry will be obtained at the S.P. Martir Observatory (Mexico).

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