We introduce SPARC (Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves): a sample of 175 nearby galaxies with new surface photometry at 3.6 μm and high-quality rotation curves from previous H i/Hα studies. SPARC spans a broad range of morphologies (S0 to Irr), luminosities (∼5 dex), and surface brightnesses (∼4 dex). We derive [3.6] surface photometry and study structural relations of stellar and gas disks. We find that both the stellar mass–H i mass relation and the stellar radius–H i radius relation have significant intrinsic scatter, while the H i mass–radius relation is extremely tight. We build detailed mass models and quantify the ratio of baryonic to observed velocity (V _bar/V _obs) for different characteristic radii and values of the stellar mass-to-light ratio (ϒ_⋆) at [3.6]. Assuming ϒ_⋆ ≃ 0.5 M _⊙/L _⊙ (as suggested by stellar population models), we find that (i) the gas fraction linearly correlates with total luminosity; (ii) the transition from star-dominated to gas-dominated galaxies roughly corresponds to the transition from spiral galaxies to dwarf irregulars, in line with density wave theory; and (iii) V _bar/V _obs varies with luminosity and surface brightness: high-mass, high-surface-brightness galaxies are nearly maximal, while low-mass, low-surface-brightness galaxies are submaximal. These basic properties are lost for low values of ϒ_⋆ ≃ 0.2 M _⊙/L _⊙ as suggested by the DiskMass survey. The mean maximum-disk limit in bright galaxies is ϒ_⋆ ≃ 0.7 M _⊙/L _⊙ at [3.6]. The SPARC data are publicly available and represent an ideal test bed for models of galaxy formation.

We study the link between baryons and dark matter (DM) in 240 galaxies with spatially resolved kinematic data. Our sample spans 9 dex in stellar mass and includes all morphological types. We consider (1) 153 late-type galaxies (LTGs; spirals and irregulars) with gas rotation curves from the SPARC database, (2) 25 early-type galaxies (ETGs; ellipticals and lenticulars) with stellar and H i data from ATLAS 3 D or X-ray data from Chandra, and (3) 62 dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) with individual-star spectroscopy. We find that LTGs, ETGs, and “classical” dSphs follow the same radial acceleration relation: the observed acceleration ( g obs ) correlates with that expected from the distribution of baryons ( g bar ) over 4 dex. The relation coincides with the 1:1 line (no DM) at high accelerations but systematically deviates from unity below a critical scale of ∼10⁻¹⁰ m s⁻². The observed scatter is remarkably small ( ≲ 0.13 dex) and largely driven by observational uncertainties. The residuals do not correlate with any global or local galaxy property (e.g., baryonic mass, gas fraction, and radius). The radial acceleration relation is tantamount to a natural law: when the baryonic contribution is measured, the rotation curve follows, and vice versa. Including ultrafaint dSphs, the relation may extend by another 2 dex and possibly flatten at g bar ≲ 10 − 12 m s⁻², but these data are significantly more uncertain. The radial acceleration relation subsumes and generalizes several well-known dynamical properties of galaxies, like the Tully–Fisher and Faber–Jackson relations, the “baryon-halo” conspiracies, and Renzo’s rule.

In a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology, the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation (BTFR) is expected to show significant intrinsic scatter resulting from the mass–concentration relation of dark matter halos and the baryonic-to-halo mass ratio. We study the BTFR using a sample of 118 disk galaxies (spirals and irregulars) with data of the highest quality: extended rotation curves (tracing the outer velocity) and Spitzer photometry at 3.6 μm (tracing the stellar mass). Assuming that the stellar mass-to-light ratio ( ) is nearly constant at 3.6 μm, we find that the scatter, slope, and normalization of the BTFR systematically vary with the adopted . The observed scatter is minimized for , corresponding to nearly maximal disks in high-surface-brightness galaxies and BTFR slopes close to ∼4. For any reasonable value of , the intrinsic scatter is ∼0.1 dex, below general ΛCDM expectations. The residuals show no correlations with galaxy structural parameters (radius or surface brightness), contrary to the predictions from some semi-analytic models of galaxy formation. These are fundamental issues for ΛCDM cosmology.

Dwarf galaxies move in unexpected ways: Massive galaxies like our Milky Way are orbited by satellite dwarf galaxies. Standard cosmological simulations of galaxy formation predict that these satellites should move randomly around their host. Müller et al. examined the satellites of the nearby elliptical galaxy Centaurus A (see the Perspective by Boylan-Kolchin). They found that the satellites are distributed in a planar arrangement, and the members of the plane are orbiting in a coherent direction. This is inconsistent with more than 99% of comparable galaxies in simulations. Centaurus A, the Milky Way, and Andromeda all have highly statistically unlikely satellite systems. This observational evidence suggests that something is wrong with standard cosmological simulations. Science , this issue p. 534 ; see also p. 520

We present rotation curve fits to 175 late-type galaxies from the Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves database using seven dark matter (DM) halo profiles: pseudo-isothermal, Burkert, Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW), Einasto, Di Cintio et al. (2014, hereafter DC14), cored-NFW, and a new semi-empirical profile named Lucky13. We marginalize over the stellar mass-to-light ratio, galaxy distance, disk inclination, halo concentration, and halo mass (and an additional shape parameter for Einasto) using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. We find that cored halo models, such as the DC14 and Burkert profiles, generally provide better fits to rotation curves than the cuspy NFW profile. The stellar mass-halo mass relation from abundance matching is recovered by all halo profiles once imposed as a Bayesian prior, whereas the halo mass–concentration relation is not reproduced in detail by any halo model. We provide an extensive set of figures as well as best-fit parameters in machine-readable tables to facilitate model comparison and the exploration of DM halo properties.