4.1 Article

Sumo Puff: Tidal debris or disturbed ultra-diffuse galaxy?

Journal

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/pasj/psx051

Keywords

galaxies: dwarf; galaxies: general; galaxies: interactions

Funding

  1. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [DGE 1148900]
  2. NSF [AST-141164]
  3. FIRST program from Japanese Cabinet Office
  4. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
  5. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
  6. Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
  7. Toray Science Foundation
  8. NAOJ
  9. Kavli IPMU
  10. KEK
  11. ASIAA
  12. Princeton University
  13. National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NNX08AR22G]
  14. National Science Foundation [AST-1238877]
  15. Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [15H03654, 15H05893] Funding Source: KAKEN

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We report the discovery of a diffuse stellar cloud with an angular extent greater than or similar to 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 similar to 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 Se ' rsic index (n similar to 0.3). It has a low central g-band surface brightness of similar to 26.4mag arcsec-2, large effective radius of similar to 13(similar to 11 kpc at z = 0.0431 and similar to 1.5 kpc at z = 0.0055), and an elongated morphology (b/a similar to 0.4). Its red color (g - i similar to 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-sized 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 tidalmaterial will be necessary to reveal the true nature of this object.

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