A Petal Of The Sunflower: Photometry Of The Stellar Tidal Stream In The Halo Of Messier 63 (NGC 5055)

Simple item page
dc.contributor.utaustinauthorHill, Gary J.en_US
dc.creatorChonis, Taylor S.en_US
dc.creatorMartinez-Delgado, Daviden_US
dc.creatorGabany, R. Jayen_US
dc.creatorMajewski, Steven R.en_US
dc.creatorHill, Gary J.en_US
dc.creatorGralak, Rayen_US
dc.creatorTrujillo, Ignacioen_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-22T19:45:08Z
dc.date.available2016-04-22T19:45:08Z
dc.date.issued2011-11en
dc.description.abstractWe present deep surface photometry of a very faint, giant arc-loop feature in the halo of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 5055 (M63) that is consistent with being a part of a stellar stream resulting from the disruption of a dwarf satellite galaxy. This faint feature was first detected in early photographic studies by van der Kruit; more recently, in the study of Martinez-Delgado and as presented in this work, from the loop has been realized to be the result of a recent minor merger through evidence obtained by wide-field, deep images taken with a telescope of only 0.16 m aperture. The stellar stream is clearly confirmed in additional deep images taken with the 0.5 m telescope of the BlackBird Remote Observatory and the 0.8 m telescope of the McDonald Observatory. This low surface brightness (mu(R) approximate to 26 mag arcsec(-2)) arc-like structure around the disk of the galaxy extends 14'0 (similar to 29 kpc projected) from its center, with a projected width of 1'6 (similar to 3.3 kpc). The stream's morphology is consistent with that of the visible part of a giant, >great-circle> type stellar stream originating from the recent accretion of a similar to 10(8) M-circle dot dwarf satellite in the last few Gyr. The progenitor satellite's current position and final fate are not conclusive from our data. The color of the stream's stars is consistent with dwarfs in the Local Group and is similar to the outer faint regions of M63's disk and stellar halo. From our photometric study, we detect other low surface brightness >plumes;> some of these may be extended spiral features related to the galaxy's complex spiral structure, and others may be tidal debris associated with the disruption of the galaxy's outer stellar disk as a result of the accretion event. We are able to differentiate between features related to the tidal stream and faint, blue extended features in the outskirts of the galaxy's disk previously detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite. With its highly warped Hi gaseous disk (similar to 20 degrees), M63 represents one of the several examples of an isolated spiral galaxy with a warped disk showing recently discovered strong evidence of an ongoing minor merger.en_US
dc.description.departmentMcDonald Observatoryen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipTexas Norman Hackerman Advanced Research 003658-0295-2007en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF AST-0807945en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipAlfred P. Sloan Foundationen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipU.S. Department of Energyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Aeronautics and Space Administrationen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipJapanese Monbukagakushoen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipMax Planck Societyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipHigher Education Funding Council for Englanden_US
dc.description.sponsorshipJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under the National Aeronautics and Space Administrationen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T26J6Q
dc.identifier.citationChonis, Taylor S., David Martínez-Delgado, R. Jay Gabany, Steven R. Majewski, Gary J. Hill, Ray Gralak, and Ignacio Trujillo. >A petal of the sunflower: photometry of the stellar tidal stream in the halo of Messier 63 (NGC 5055).> The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 142, No. 5 (Nov., 2011): 166.en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/0004-6256/142/5/166en_US
dc.identifier.issn0004-6256en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/34376
dc.language.isoEnglishen_US
dc.relation.ispartofserialAstronomical Journalen_US
dc.rightsAdministrative deposit of works to Texas ScholarWorks: This works author(s) is or was a University faculty member, student or staff member; this article is already available through open access or the publisher allows a PDF version of the article to be freely posted online. The library makes the deposit as a matter of fair use (for scholarly, educational, and research purposes), and to preserve the work and further secure public access to the works of the University.en_US
dc.subjectgalaxies: dwarfen_US
dc.subjectgalaxies: evolutionen_US
dc.subjectgalaxies: halosen_US
dc.subjectgalaxies:en_US
dc.subjectindividual (ngc 5505)en_US
dc.subjectgalaxies: interactionsen_US
dc.subjectgalaxies: photometryen_US
dc.subjectdigital sky surveyen_US
dc.subjectsagittarius dwarf galaxyen_US
dc.subjectspiral galaxiesen_US
dc.subjectmilky-wayen_US
dc.subjectsurface photometryen_US
dc.subjectstar-formationen_US
dc.subjectgalactic disksen_US
dc.subjectminoren_US
dc.subjectmergersen_US
dc.subjectnearby fielden_US
dc.subjectdata releaseen_US
dc.subjectastronomy & astrophysicsen_US
dc.titleA Petal Of The Sunflower: Photometry Of The Stellar Tidal Stream In The Halo Of Messier 63 (NGC 5055)en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Access full-text files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
petalofthesunflower.pdf
Size:
3.06 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

UT Faculty/Researcher Works