Computer Science
Scientific paper
Aug 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002noao.prop..308m&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #2002B-0308
Computer Science
Scientific paper
We propose deep imaging of four Hickson compact groups to test theories of dwarf galaxy formation in tidal debris. While observations of ongoing interactions such as the Antennae have revealed the presence of star-forming knots in their tidal tails, whether or not these structures can survive and become bona-fide dwarf galaxies is less clear. To address this uncertainty, we plan to correlate the dwarf galaxy content of four compact groups with a long-lived tracer of past interaction history: the diffuse intragroup light formed during interactions and mergers within the group. Since this faint intragroup light is the evolved counterpart of the bright tidal features in which tidal dwarfs are proposed to form, dwarf-rich groups should possess significantly more intragroup light than dwarf-poor groups if the tidal dwarf formation model is correct. In contrast, if the group environment preferentially destroys dwarf galaxies via tidal disruption, we expect an anticorrelation between dwarf content and intragroup light. We are requesting 4 dark nights on the 2.1m to study the intragroup light down to (mu)_V=26.5 mag/sq arcsec in two dwarf-rich and two dwarf- poor compact groups.
Feldmeier John . J.
Harding Paul
Hunsberger Sally
Mihos Chris
Morrison Heather
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