H i Vertical Structure of Nearby Edge-on Galaxies from CHANG-ES

Abstract

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 H i disk scale heights from the moment-0 images of the relatively edge-on galaxies with inclination >80°, by quantifying the systematic broadening effects and thus deriving correction equations for direct measurements. The corrected H i 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 provides a convenient way to derive the scale heights and can easily be applied to statistical samples in the future.