Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-1993
Abstract
We use a sample of ≈340 low surface brightness (LSB) disk galaxies with measured redshifts in combination with the Center for Astrophysics redshift survey to test the hypothesis that LSB galaxies have a deficit of nearby companion galaxies compared to high surface brightness (HSB) disk galaxies. We find a very strong statistical deficit of galaxies located within a projected radius of 0.5 Mpc and within a velocity of 500 km s-1 around LSB disk galaxies compared to HSB ones. Further, comparing LSB and HSB disk galaxies which are located in the same portion of the sky indicates that the average distance to the nearest neighbor is 1.7 times farther for LSB disk galaxies. A Komologorov-Smirnoff test rules out, at greater than the 99% confidence level, the hypothesis that the distribution of nearest-neighbor distances is the same for HSB and LSB disk galaxies. We speculate that LSB disk galaxies have relatively long formation time scales and therefore must form in relative isolation. In addition, the lack of tidal interactions over a Hubble time serves to suppress the overall star-formation rate as no external trigger is available to help clump the gas. The observed low surface densities of H I in combination with the low probability of tidal interactions effectively prevents these disk galaxies from evolving very rapidly.
Keywords
brightness distribution, disk galaxies, galactic radiation, red shift, galactic clusters, power spectra, spiral galaxies, astrophysics, galaxies: spiral, intergalactic medium, galaxies: evolution
Publication Title
Astronomical Journal
Rights
© The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This content is free to access, download, and share. For all other uses, you must obtain permission to reuse content: https://journals.aas.org/article-charges-and-copyright/#AAS_material
Recommended Citation
Bothun, G. D., Schombert, J. M., Impey, C. D., Sprayberry, D., and McGaugh, S. S., “The Small Scale Environment of Low Surface Brightness Disk Galaxies”, The Astronomical Journal, vol. 106, IOP, p. 530, 1993. doi:10.1086/116659.
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version