The structural properties of nearby dwarf galaxies in low-density environments – size, surface brightness, and colour gradients

We use a complete sample of 211 nearby (z<0. 08) dwarf (10⁸ MSun < Mstar < 10⁹. 5 Msun) galaxies in low-density environments, to study their structural properties: effective radii (Rₑ), effective surface brightnesses (muₑ) and colour gradients. We explore these properties as a function of stellar mass and the three principal dwarf morphological types identified in a companion paper (Lazar et al. ) -- early-type galaxies (ETGs), late-type galaxies (LTGs) and featureless systems. The median Rₑ of LTGs and featureless galaxies are factors of ~2 and ~1. 2 larger than the ETGs. While the median muₑ of the ETGs and LTGs is similar, the featureless class is ~1 mag arcsec^-2 fainter. Although they have similar median Rₑ, the featureless and ETG classes differ significantly in their median muₑ, suggesting that their evolution is different and that the featureless galaxies are not a subset of the ETGs. While massive ETGs typically exhibit negative or flat colour gradients, dwarf ETGs generally show positive colour gradients (bluer centres). The growth of ETGs therefore changes from being `outside-in' to `inside-out' as we move from the dwarf to the massive regime. The colour gradients of dwarf and massive LTGs are, however, similar. Around 46 per cent of dwarf ETGs show prominent, visually-identifiable blue cores which extend out to ~1. 5 Rₑ. Finally, compared to their non-interacting counterparts, interacting dwarfs are larger, bluer at all radii and exhibit similar median muₑ, indicating that interactions typically enhance star formation across the entire galaxy.