HI Vertical Structure of Nearby Edge-on Galaxies from CHANG-ES

Abstract

We study the vertical distribution of the highly inclined galaxies from the Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies - an EVLA Survey (CHANG-ES). We explore the feasibility of photometrically deriving the HI disk scale-heights from the moment-0 images of the relatively edge-on galaxies with inclination >80 deg, by quantifying the systematic broadening effects and thus deriving correction equations for direct measurements. The corrected HI disk scale-heights of the relatively edge-on galaxies from the CHANG-ES sample show trends consistent with the quasi-equilibrium model of the vertical structure of gas disks. The procedure provide a convenient way to derive the scale-heights and can easily be applied to statistical samples in the future.

Accepted for publication in Research in Astronomy nd Astrophysics (RAA) journal