Color Profiles of Disk Galaxies since z ~ 1: Probing Outer Disk Formation Scenarios

Abstract

We present deep color profiles for a sample of 415 disk galaxies within the redshift range 0.1 < z <= 1.1, and contained in HST ACS imaging of the GOODS-South field. For each galaxy, passband combinations are chosen to obtain, at each redshift, the best possible approximation to the rest-frame u - g color. We find that objects which show a truncation in their stellar disk (type II objects) usually show a minimum in their color profile at the break, or very near to it, with a maximum to minimum amplitude in color of <~ 0.2 mag arcsec^-2, a feature which is persistent through the explored range of redshifts (i.e., in the last ~8 Gyr). This color structure is in qualitative agreement with recent model expectations where the break of the surface brightness profiles is the result of the interplay between a radial star formation cutoff and a redistribution of stellar mass by secular processes.