Orientation of galaxies in structures

Investigating the orientation of galaxies is a standard test for scenarios of galaxy formation since different theories of galaxy formation make various predictions regarding the angular momentum of galaxies. A new method of analyzing galaxy alignments in clusters was proposed by Goodłowski [ 1 ] and is improved upon here. The distribution of position angles for galaxy major axes was analyzed, as well as the distribution of the two angles describing the spatial orientation of the galaxy plane, both of which provide information about galaxy angular momenta. The orientation of galaxies in groups and clusters of galaxies is discussed, and the results illustrate the dependence of alignment with respect to cluster richness. The implications for theories of galaxy formation are also discussed.