Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20919902y&link_type=abstract
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #199.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We have collected photometric and spectroscopic observations of thick disks in a large sample of edge-on disk galaxies. We find that thick disks are more prominent in lower mass galaxies, to the point of dominating the total stellar mass. Kinematically, most thick disks (8 of 9) are analogous to the Milky Way thick disk showing a moderate rotational lag and are consistent with being a kinematically hot stellar population in equilibrium with the overall galaxy potential. However, we find one example of a thick disk which is counter-rotating when compared to the thin disk. We have derived ages and metallicities using the Lick spectral indices and confirm that thick disks are older and metal poor when compared to the thin disks. Our observations support thick disk formation models where the thick disk is formed from the direct accretion of stars from infalling satellite galaxies. The presence of a counter-rotating thick disk rules out models where the thick disk is the kinematically heated remnant of a previously thin disk.
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