The Ultraviolet Morphology of Galaxies

Abstract

Optical band images of distant (z > 0.5) galaxies, such as those of the Hubble Deep Field, record light from the rest-frame vacuum ultraviolet (< 3000 A). Because the appearance of a galaxy is a very strong function of wavelength, and especially so in the UV, evolutionary studies of distant galaxies can be seriously influenced by a "morphological k-correction" effect. We use images obtained by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope during the Astro missions to explore the extent of this effect and intercompare far-UV with optical morphologies for various types of galaxies.

4 pages; LaTeX text file, 4 PostScript figures, and a special style file. Paper to be published in "HST and the High Redshift Universe" (37th Hertstmonceux Conference), eds. N.R. Tanvir, A. Aragon-Salamanca, and J.V. Wall, 1996