TY - JOUR
T1 - An enigmatic 380 kpc long linear collimated galactic tail
AU - Zaritsky, Dennis
AU - Crossett, Jacob P.
AU - Jaffé, Yara L.
AU - Donnerstein, Richard
AU - Karunakaran, Ananthan
AU - Khim, Donghyeon J.
AU - Lourenço, Ana C.C.
AU - Spekkens, Kristine
AU - Sun, Ming
AU - Vulcani, Benedetta
N1 - Funding Information:
The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
PY - 2023/9/1
Y1 - 2023/9/1
N2 - We present a serendipitously detected system consisting of an S0/a galaxy, which we refer to as the ‘Kite,’ and a highly collimated tail of gas and stars that extends over 380 kpc and contains pockets of star formation. In its length, narrowness, and linearity the Kite’s tail is an extreme example relative to known tails. The Kite (PGC 1000273) has a companion galaxy, Mrk 0926 (PGC 070409), which together comprise a binary galaxy system in which both galaxies host active galactic nuclei. Despite this systems being previously searched for signs of tidal interactions, the tail had not been discovered prior to our identification as part of the validation process of the SMUDGes survey for low surface brightness galaxies. We confirm the kinematic association between various H α knots along the tail, a small galaxy, and the Kite galaxy using optical spectroscopy obtained with the Magellan telescope and measure a velocity gradient along the tail. The Kite shares characteristics common to those formed via ram pressure stripping (‘jellyfish’ galaxies) and formed via tidal interactions. However, both scenarios face significant challenges that we discuss, leaving open the question of how such an extreme tail formed. We propose that the tail resulted from a three-body interaction from which the lowest mass galaxy was ejected at high velocity.
AB - We present a serendipitously detected system consisting of an S0/a galaxy, which we refer to as the ‘Kite,’ and a highly collimated tail of gas and stars that extends over 380 kpc and contains pockets of star formation. In its length, narrowness, and linearity the Kite’s tail is an extreme example relative to known tails. The Kite (PGC 1000273) has a companion galaxy, Mrk 0926 (PGC 070409), which together comprise a binary galaxy system in which both galaxies host active galactic nuclei. Despite this systems being previously searched for signs of tidal interactions, the tail had not been discovered prior to our identification as part of the validation process of the SMUDGes survey for low surface brightness galaxies. We confirm the kinematic association between various H α knots along the tail, a small galaxy, and the Kite galaxy using optical spectroscopy obtained with the Magellan telescope and measure a velocity gradient along the tail. The Kite shares characteristics common to those formed via ram pressure stripping (‘jellyfish’ galaxies) and formed via tidal interactions. However, both scenarios face significant challenges that we discuss, leaving open the question of how such an extreme tail formed. We propose that the tail resulted from a three-body interaction from which the lowest mass galaxy was ejected at high velocity.
KW - galaxies: dwarf
KW - galaxies: formation
KW - galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
KW - galaxies: structure
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U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stad1964
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stad1964
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165968741
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 524
SP - 1431
EP - 1437
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 1
ER -