BVRI surface photometry of the galaxy NGC 3726

We present BVRI surface photometry of the late-type spiral galaxy NGC 3627. The distributions of the color indices and extinction-independent Q indices show that the observed photometric asymmetry in the inner part of the galaxy, including the bar, is due to an asymmetric distribution of absorbing material. The bluest regions of star formation are located in a ring surrounding the bar. The background-subtracted color indices of individual blue knots are used to estimate the ages of young stellar aggregates. In combination with previously published photometric data, our measurements indicate that the R-band profile of the disk is rather flat in its inner part (r < 50") and becomes steeper further from its center. We estimate the mass of the disk and dark halo by decomposing the rotation curve. The mass-to-light ratio M/L-B for the stellar disk is approximate to 1.4. The galaxy possesses a massive dark halo; however, the mass of the disk exceeds that of the halo in the inner part of the galaxy, which displays a regular spiral structure. (C) 2002 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".