Spatial orientation of galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance

B. Aryal1,2, S.N. Yadav2 and W. Saurer1
1Institute of Astro- and Particle Physics, Innsbruck University, Technikerstrasse 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
2Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

Abstract. We present spatial orientation of spin vectors of galaxies found in the region 20° ≤ l ≤ 80°, −10° ≤ b ≤ −5° in the first Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. The inclination angle and intrinsic flatness of a galaxy are used to determine the spin vector and spin vector projections of the galaxy. We studied the preferred alignments of spin vectors of galaxies with respect to equatorial, Galactic and supergalactic coordinate systems. We have carried out Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S), Kuiper-V and Fourier tests in order to examine non-random effects. It is found that the spin vectors of galaxies tend to lie in the equatorial plane whereas these vectors tend to be oriented perpendicular the Local Supercluster plane. A random alignment of spin vectors of galaxies is noticed with respect to the Galactic plane. Possible explanation of the results are discussed.

Keywords: catalogues -- surveys -- galaxies: evolution -- galaxies: statistics

Download Full Paper

Back to Home Page