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[80.08U] Galaxy halo shapes from weak lensing in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

J. Racusin, B. Koester (University of Michigan), E.S. Sheldon (CfCP, University of Chicago), T.A. McKay (University of Michigan)

We measure the 2-dimensional weak lensing shearmap around normal bright galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release in an aperture of 500 h^-1 kpc. We attempt to understand the shape of the dark matter halos using two different methods. Our first method assumes that the mass is aligned with the light, so we align all the galaxies along the major axis of the light and measure the summed shearmap. Our second method uses a statistical technique that measures the shear differential as a function of angular separation and is independent of the orientation of the light. The resulting shearmaps are measured for a variety of sub-samples of galaxies. Relating the shapes of dark and luminous components of galaxies will provide important input to models of galaxy formation and evolution.

Funding for the creation and distribution of the SDSS Archive has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, and the Max Planck Society. The SDSS Web site is http://www.sdss.org/.

The SDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) for the Participating Institutions. The Participating Institutions are The University of Chicago, Fermilab, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Japan Participation Group, The Johns Hopkins University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), New Mexico State University, University of Pittsburgh, Princeton University, the United States Naval Observatory, and the University of Washington.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: jracusin@umich.edu

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.