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- Title
Sumo Puff: Tidal debris or disturbed ultra-diffuse galaxy?
- Authors
GRECO, Johnny P.; GREENE, Jenny E.; PRICE-WHELAN, Adrian M.; LEAUTHAUD, Alexie; Song HUANG; GOULDING, Andy D.; STRAUSS, Michael A.; KOMIYAMA, Yutaka; LUPTON, Robert H.; MIYAZAKI, Satoshi; Masahiro TAKADA; Masayuki TANAKA; Tomonori USUDA
- Abstract
We report the discovery of a diffuse stellar cloud with an angular extent ≳30'', which we term "Sumo Puff", in data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). While we do not have a redshift for this object, it is in close angular proximity to a post-merger galaxy at redshift z=0.0431 and is projected within a few virial radii (assuming similar redshifts) of two other ∼L⋆ galaxies, which we use to bracket a potential redshift range of 0.0055<z<0.0431. The object's light distribution is flat, as characterized by a low Sersic index (n∼0.3). It has a low central g-band surface brightness of ∼26.4 mag arcsec−2, large effective radius of ∼13'' (∼11 kpc at z=0.0431 and ∼1.5 kpc at z=0.0055), and an elongated morphology (b/a∼0.4). Its red color (g−i∼1) is consistent with a passively evolving stellar population and similar to the nearby post-merger galaxy, and we may see tidal material connecting Sumo Puff with this galaxy. We offer two possible interpretations for the nature of this object: (1) it is an extreme, galaxy-size tidal feature associated with a recent merger event, or (2) it is a foreground dwarf galaxy with properties consistent with a quenched, disturbed ultra-diffuse galaxy. We present a qualitative comparison with simulations that demonstrates the feasibility of forming a structure similar to this object in a merger event. Follow-up spectroscopy and/or deeper imaging to confirm the presence of the bridge of tidal material will be necessary to reveal the true nature of this object.
- Subjects
REDSHIFT; GALACTIC redshift; GALAXY spectra; STELLAR populations; DWARF galaxies; SPACE debris
- Publication
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 2018, Vol 70, Issue Supp1, p1
- ISSN
0004-6264
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/pasj/psx051