Context :

Aims : I have analyzed a sample of seven nearby edge-on galaxies observed in the V and K ’ -band , in order to infer the properties of the dust distribution .

Methods : A radiative transfer model , including scattering , have been used to decompose each image into a stellar disk , a bulge , and a dust disk .
The parameters describing the distributions have been obtained through standard \chi ^ { 2 } minimization techniques .

Results : The dust disks fitted to the V-band images are consistent with previous work in literature : the radial scalelength of dust is larger than that for stars ( h _ { \mathrm { d } } / h _ { \mathrm { s } } \sim 1.5 ) ; the dust disk has a smaller vertical scalelength than the stellar ( z _ { \mathrm { d } } / z _ { \mathrm { s } } \sim 1 / 3 ) ; the dust disk is almost transparent when seen face-on ( central , face-on , optical depth \tau _ { 0 } = 0.5 - 1.5 ) .
Faster radiative transfer models which neglect scattering can produce equivalent fits , with changes in the derived parameters within the accuracy of full fits including scattering .
In the K ’ -band , no trace is found of a second , massive , dust disk which has been invoked to explain observations of dust emission in the submillimeter .
I discuss the model degeneracies and the effect of complex structures on the fitted distributions .
In particular , most bulges in the sample show a box/peanuts morphology with large residuals ; two lower-inclination galaxies show a dust ring distribution , which could be the cause for the large fitted dust scalelengths .

Conclusions :