A Tale of NGC 3785: The formation of an ultra-diffuse galaxy at the end of the longest tidal tail
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Aims. We present the discovery of an extended and faint tail observed in the isolated environment associated with galaxy NGC 3785. This study additionally provides observational evidence supporting the formation of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) at the end of the tail. Methods. We utilized the Gnuastro software to detect and analyze the low surface brightness structures in the optical g - and r -bands using data from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey. We created a detection map to identify the faint tail and measured its length using cubic spline fitting. Additionally, we found 84 star-forming clumps along the tail and performed photometric analysis on the tail portion after applying a significance threshold on the signal-to-noise ratio. Results. We have measured the projected length of the tail, which is ∼390 kpc. We propose that this tail arises from the interaction of the NGC 3785 with a gas-rich galaxy, which ends up as a UDG at the end of the tail.
Source: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,732
OpenAlex ID: W4403823706