1.65 micron (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. V: Profile decomposition of 1157 galaxies

Abstract

We present near-infrared H-band (1.65 micron) surface brightness profile decomposition for 1157 galaxies in five nearby clusters of galaxies: Coma, A1367, Virgo, A262 and Cancer, and in the bridge between Coma and A1367 in the "Great Wall". The optically selected (m_p<=16.0) sample is representative of all Hubble types, from E to Irr+BCD, except dE and of significantly different environments, spanning from isolated regions to rich clusters of galaxies. We model the surface brightness profiles with a de Vaucouleurs r^(1/4) law (dV), with an exponential disk law (E), or with a combination of the two (B+D). From the fitted quantities we derive the H band effective surface brightness (mu_e) and radius (r_e) of each component, the asymptotic magnitude H_T and the light concentration index C_31. We find that: i) Less than 50% of the Elliptical galaxies have pure dV profiles. The majority of E to Sb galaxies is best represented by a B+D profile. All Scd to BCD galaxies have pure exponential profiles. ii) The type of decomposition is a strong function of the total H band luminosity (mass), independent of the Hubble classification: the fraction of pure exponential decompositions decreases with increasing luminosity, that of B+D increases with luminosity. Pure dV profiles are absent in the low luminosity range L_H<10^(10) L_solar and become dominant above 10^(11) L_solar.