No abstract

Context. The AMIGA project aims to build a well defined and statistically significant reference sample of isolated galaxies in order to estimate the environmental effects on the formation and evolution of galaxies. Aims. The goal of this paper is to provide a measure of the environment of the isolated galaxies in the AMIGA sample, quantifying the influence of the candidate neighbours identified in our previous work and their potential effects on the evolution of the primary galaxies. Here we provide a quantification of the isolation degree of the galaxies in this sample. Methods. Our starting sample is the Catalogue of Isolated Galaxies (CIG). We used two parameters to estimate the influence exerted by the neighbour galaxies on the CIG galaxy: the local number density of neighbour galaxies and the tidal strength affecting the CIG galaxy. We show that both parameters together provide a comprehensive picture of the environment. For comparison, those parameters have also been derived for galaxies in denser environments such as triplets, groups and clusters. Results. The CIG galaxies show a continuous spectrum of isolation, as quantified by the two parameters, from very isolated to interacting. The fraction of CIG galaxies whose properties are expected to be influenced by the environment is however low (159 out of 950 galaxies). The isolated parameters derived for the comparison samples gave higher values than for the CIG and we found clear differences for the average values of the 4 samples considered, proving the sensitivity of these parameters. Conclusions. The environment of the galaxies in the CIG has been characterised, using two complementary parameters quantifying the isolation degree, the local number density of the neighbour galaxies and the tidal forces affecting the isolated galaxies. A final catalogue of galaxies has been produced and the most isolated of these galaxies are consequently appropriate to serve as a reference sample for the AMIGA project.

We present a refinement of the optical morphologies for galaxies in the Catalog of Isolated Galaxies that forms the basis of the AMIGA (Analysis of the interstellar Medium of Isolated GAlaxies) project. Uniform reclassification using the digitized POSS II data benefited from the high resolution and dynamic range of that sky survey. Comparison with independent classifications made for an SDSS overlap sample of more than 200 galaxies confirms the reliability of the early vs. late-type discrimination and the accuracy of spiral subtypes within ∆T = 1-2. CCD images taken at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada were also used to solve ambiguities in early versus late-type classifications. A considerable number of galaxies in the catalog (n = 193) are flagged for the presence of nearby companions or signs of distortion likely due to interaction. This most isolated sample of galaxies in the local Universe is dominated by two populations: 1) 82% are spirals (Sa-Sd) with the bulk being luminous systems with small bulges (63% between types Sb-Sc) and 2) a significant population of early-type E-S0 galaxies (14%). Most of the types later than Sd are low luminosity galaxies concentrated in the local supercluster where isolation is difficult to evaluate. The late-type spiral majority of the sample spans a luminosity range M B−corr = −18 to −22 mag. Few of the E/S0 population are more luminous than −21.0 marking the absence of the often-sought super L * merger (e.g. fossil elliptical) population. The rarity of high luminosity systems results in a fainter derived M * for this population compared to the spiral optical luminosity function (OLF). The E-S0 population is from 0.2 to 0.6 mag fainter depending on how the sample is defined. This marks the AMIGA sample as unique among samples that compare early and late-type OLFs separately. In other samples, which always involve galaxies in higher density environments, M * E/S0 is almost always 0.3-0.5 mag brighter than M * S , presumably reflecting a stronger correlation between M * and environmental density for early-type galaxies.