Departures From Axisymmetric Morphology and Dynamics in Spiral Galaxies
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Abstract
New HI synthesis data have been obtained for six face-on galaxies with the Very Large Array. These data and reanalyses of three additional data sets make up a sample of nine face-on galaxies analyzed for deviations from axisymmetry in morphology and dynamics. This sample represents a subsample of galaxies already analyzed for morphological symmetry properties in the R-band. Four quantitative measures of dynamical nonaxisymmetry are compared to one another and to the quantitative measures of morphological asymmetry in HI and R-band to investigate the relationships between nonaxisymmetric morphology and dynamics. We find no significant relationship between asymmetric morphology and most of the dynamical measures in our sample. A possible relationship is found, however, between morphology and dynamical position angle differences between approaching and receding sides of the galaxy.