{ "cells": [ { "cell_type": "markdown", "id": "2aff1272", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "# Background Information\n", "\n", "## Introduction\n", "\n", "Measuring true sizes and fluxes of galaxies has always posed challenges due to varying morphology, proximity to neighboring galaxies, and low surface brightness features. Several methods have been proposed to estimate galaxy fluxes, shapes, and angular sizes. Key among these is the analysis of the light distribution profile of a galaxy.\n", "\n", "**Parametric Descriptions**: \n", "- De Vaucouleurs (1948) first introduced a power-law profile, employing an exp$[{-kr^{1/4}}]$ intensity profile for elliptical galaxies.\n", "- Sérsic (1963, 1968) later generalized this to describe galaxies of various morphologies.\n", "\n", "**Petrosian Profile**:\n", "- Proposed by Petrosian (1976), it offers a distance-independent method for measuring galaxy radii. It's useful in determining radial concentrations of galaxy light profiles and in estimating parameters of Sérsic profiles.\n", "\n", "**PetroFit Package**:\n", "- PetroFit, leveraging Astropy and Photutils, is aimed at computing Petrosian radii and magnitudes. \n", "- It prioritizes accurate measurements within the Astropy ecosystem and incorporates correction grids as described by Crawford (2006).\n", "- Beyond Petrosian profiles, it offers robust parameter fitting based on Astropy models.\n", "\n", "In the sections ahead, we will detail the morphological properties measurable with PetroFit.\n" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "id": "244d5142", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Sérsic Profiles\n", "\n", "The Sérsic profile is a mathematical function that describes how the intensity of a galaxy varies with radius `r` from its center. The profile can be described using the following formulation:\n", "\n", "