Advanced morphological galaxy classification: a comparison of observed and simulated galaxies
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abstract
Encoded within the morphological structure of galaxies are clues related to
their formation and evolutionary history. Recent advances pertaining to the
statistics of galaxy morphology include sophisticated measures of concentration
(C), asymmetry (A), and clumpiness (S). In this study, these three parameters
(CAS) have been applied to a suite of simulated galaxies and compared with
observational results inferred from a sample of nearby galaxies. The
simulations span a range of late-type systems, with masses between ~1e10 Msun
and ~1e12 Msun, and employ star formation density thresholds between 0.1 cm^-3
and 100 cm^-3. We have found that the simulated galaxies possess comparable
concentrations to their real counterparts. However, the results of the CAS
analysis revealed that the simulated galaxies are generally more asymmetric,
and that the range of clumpiness values extends beyond the range of those
observed. Strong correlations were obtained between the three CAS parameters
and colour (B-V), consistent with observed galaxies. Furthermore, the simulated
galaxies possess strong links between their CAS parameters and Hubble type,
mostly in-line with their real counterparts.
