4HST has revealed that the majority of high redshift galaxies appear similar to a relatively rare subset of low redshift irregular and peculiar galaxies whose morphologies are pathological due to…

4HST has revealed that the majority of high redshift galaxies appear similar to a relatively rare subset of low redshift irregular and peculiar galaxies whose morphologies are pathological due to mergers or interactions (e.g., [6]; [4]). The observed increase in the percentage of merging/interacting galaxies with redshift supports models of hierarchical galaxy formation (e.g. [9]). Detailed comparisons of galaxies as a function of redshift are essential to learn how galaxies assemble and evolve over time. Particularly critical in such comparisons, yet still missing, is a large representative benchmark study at Z0. These comparison studies are complicated, however, by the fact that galaxies can look substantially different at shorter wavelengths than at longer ones (e.g., [2]; [10]). This leads to a morphological k-correction for a given galaxy between different rest-frame wavelengths. This is particularly important in studies of high redshift galaxies, as band-pass shifting will cause light originally emitted in the UV to be shifted as far as the IR by the time IT reaches earth. This raises questions about how much of the irregular/peculiar morphologies seen in high redshift studies are simply due to band-pass shifting, and not real differences in galaxy type. Kuchinski ET AL. (2001) showed that this effect alone is enough to misclassify galaxies as peculiar when simulated to high redshifts a quantitative measurement of the morphological k-correction is therefore an essential first step to the study of galaxy evolution. This is particularly important when comparing the UV to the optical or IR, as galaxy stellar energy distributions change drastically short-ward of the balmer break (360 NM), and UV-bright star-forming regions dominate morphologies that appear smoother at redder wavelengths. There has been a relative shortage, however, of large studies of the UV properties of galaxies due to the difficulty of observing these wavelengths through the atmosphere, and the only recent advent of UV-sensitive detectors. However, this situation has dramatically changed. There are 5086 galaxies in the RC3, UGC, and ESO catalogs that are larger than 1′ and have deep GR4 galex observations (MIS, NGS, CAI, DIS, and GII). Therefore, galex provides a unique, large database of nearby galaxy UV observations that would provide exquisite number statistics for a morphological k-correction study.