$R_{\rm e}$. II. Understanding the IC 3475 galaxy type, including ultra-diffuse galaxy, structural scaling relations
Abstract
It is explained why relatively gas-poor ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs), a subset of IC 3475 galaxy types, do not have unexpectedly large sizes but large sizes that are in line with expectations from the curved size-luminosity relation defined by brighter early-type galaxies (ETGs). These UDGs extend the faint end of the (absolute magnitude, )-log(S\'ersic index, ) and -(central surface brightness, ) relations defined by all ETGs, leading to the large effective half-light radii, , in these UDGs. It is detailed how the scatter in , at a given , relates to variations in the galaxies' values of and effective surface brightness, . These variations map into changes in and produce the scatter about the - relation at fixed . Similarly, the scatter in , at fixed and , can be mapped into changes in . The suggestion that there may be two types of relatively gas-poor UDGs appears ill-founded, arising from the scatter about the - relation. The increased scatter about the faint end of the - relation and the smaller scatter about -(isophotal radii, ) relations are explained. Artificial and potentially misleading size-luminosity relations for UDGs are also addressed. Finally, expected trends with dynamical mass, and evolutionary pathways towards relatively gas-rich galaxies, are briefly discussed. Hopefully, the understanding presented here will prove helpful for interpreting the many low surface brightness galaxies that the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will detect.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2504.16593,
title = {$R_{\rm e}$. II. Understanding the IC 3475 galaxy type, including ultra-diffuse galaxy, structural scaling relations},
author = {Alister W. Graham},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.16593},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
13 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PASA (includes two additional figures on version 1)