Deep intermediate-band surface photometry of NGC 5907
Journal
Astronomical Journal
Journal Volume
117
Journal Issue
6
Pages
2757-2780
Date Issued
1999
Author(s)
Zheng, Z.
Abstract
Intrigued by the initial report of an extended lumiosity distribution perpendicular to the disk of the edge-on Sc galaxy NGC 5907, we have obtained very deep exposures of this galaxy with a Schmidt telescope, large-format CCD, and intermediate-band filters centered at 6660˚A and 8020˚A. These two filters, part of a 15-filter set, are custom-designed to avoid the brightest (and most variable) night sky lines. As a result, our images are able to go deeper, with lower sky noise than those taken with broad-band filters at similar effective wavelengths: e.g., 0.6 e − arcsec −2 sec −1 for our observations vs. 7.4 e − arcsec −2 sec −1 for the R-band measures of Morrison et al. In our assessment of both random and systematic errors, we show that the flux level where the errors of observation reach 1 mag arcsec −2 are 29.00 mag arcsec −2 in the 6660˚A image (corresponding to 28.7 in R-band) and 27.4 mag arcsec−2 in the 8020˚A image (essentially on the I-band system). As detailed in Shang et al., our observations show NGC 5907 has a luminous ring around it
Type
journal article