Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Physics and Astronomy

First Advisor

Varsha Kulkarni

Abstract

Polar ring galaxies (PRGs) are a fascinating subgroup of early-type galaxies (ETGs) consisting of a central host galaxy - typically E/S0 - surrounded by a ring of gas, dust and stars orbitting perpedicular to the major axis of that host. In order to estimate physical properties and origins of five such objects taken from Whitmore's 1990 PRC catalog, we conduct a photometric study in optical and infrared wavebands. Data are taken from SDSS, GMOS-S, HST-WFPC2, and SST-IRAC. Each object was decomposed into a host galaxy bulge, host galaxy disk, and polar ring, and each component was fit with a Sersic light profile. Magnitudes of the light profiles were then used in SED Fitting to obtain estimations of age, mass, sfr, etc. Our general results are: (i) polar ring galaxies are sites of significant star formation; (ii) polar ring galaxies are bluer and have higher SFRs and sSFRs than traditional ETGs; (iii) two of the five galaxies appear more likely to have formed in a merger event, whereas a third appears more likely to have formed in an accretion event.

Rights

© 2024, Kyle Lackey

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