Galaxies with polar rings (PRGs) are a unique class of extragalactic objects. Using these, we can investigate a wide range of problems, linked to the

We present a detailed photometric study and measurements of spiral arm pitch angles for a sample of 50 non-barred or weakly barred grand-design spiral galaxies selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In order to find pitch angles, we used a new method based on the window Fourier analysis of their images. This method allows us not only to infer the average pitch angle, but to obtain its value as a function of galactocentric radius as well. Our main results are as follows: (1) Spiral arms of most galaxies cannot be described by a single value of the pitch angle. About 2/3 of galaxies demonstrate pitch angle variations exceeding 20 per cent. In most galaxies in the sample their pitch angle decreases by increasing the distance from the centre. (2) Pitch angle variations correlate with the properties of galaxies – with the shape of the surface brightness distribution (envelope-type or truncated disc), and with the sign of stellar disc colour gradient. (3) More luminous and bright bulges produce more tightly wound spiral arms, that is in agreement with current models for spiral arms formation.

A sample of edge-on spiral galaxies aimed at a thorough study of the main structural and photometric parameters of edge-on galaxies, both of early- a

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

We analyse the dependence of the stellar disc flatness on the galaxy morphological type using 2D decomposition of galaxies from the reliable subsample of the Edge-on Galaxies in SDSS catalogue. Combining these data with the retrieved models of the edge-on galaxies from the Two Micron All Sky Survey and the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies catalogue, we make the following conclusions.