The DEEP Groth Strip Survey. II. Hubble Space Telescope Structural Parameters of Galaxies in the Groth Strip

Abstract

The quantitative morphological classification of distant galaxies is essential to the understanding of the evolution of galaxies over the history of the universe. This paper presents Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 F606W and F814W photometric structural parameters for 7450 galaxies in the "Groth Strip." These parameters are based on a two-dimensional bulge + disk surface brightness model and were obtained using an automated reduction and analysis pipeline described in detail here. A first set of fits was performed separately in each bandpass, and a second set of fits was performed simultaneously on both bandpasses. The information produced by these two types of fits can be used to explore different science goals. Systematic and random fitting errors in all structural parameters as well as bulge and disk colors are carefully characterized through extensive sets of simulations. The results of these simulations are given in catalogs similar to the real science catalogs so that both real and simulated measurements can be sampled according to the same selection criteria to show biases and errors in the science data subset of interest. The effects of asymmetric structures on the recovered bulge+disk fitting parameters are also explored through simulations. The full multidimensional photometric survey selection function of the Groth Strip is also computed. This selection function, coupled to bias maps from simulations, provides a complete and objective reproduction of the observational limits, and these limits can be applied to theoretical predictions from galaxy evolution models for direct comparisons with the data.