The radial Tully-Fisher relation for spiral galaxies - I

We find a new Tully-Fisher-like relation for spiral galaxies holding at different galactocentric radii. This radial Tully-Fisher relation allows us to investigate the distribution of matter in the optical regions of spiral galaxies. This relation, applied to three different samples of rotation curves of spiral galaxies, directly proves that: (i) the rotation velocity of spirals is a good measure of their gravitational potential and both the rotation curve's amplitudes and profiles are well predicted by galaxy luminosity, (ii) the existence of a dark component, less concentrated than the luminous one, and (iii) a scaling law, according to which, inside the disc optical size: M-dark/M-lum = 0.5(L-B/10(11) L-B circle dot)(-0.7).