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Early-type dwarf galaxies in the local universe. Evidence of ex situ growth

Journal Article · · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Yonsei Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
  2. Yonsei Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republic of)
  3. Tribhuvan Univ., Kirtipur (Nepal)
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We report the discovery of a rare early-type dwarf galaxy (dE), SDSS J125651.47+163024.2 (hereafter, dE1256), possessing a tidal feature that was likely built up by accretion of an even smaller dwarf galaxy. dE1256 is located in a nearly isolated environment, at the outskirt of the Virgo cluster. A detailed morphological examination reveals that the accreted stellar population is mainly deposited in the outer part of dE1256, where the tidal tail is most prominent. The inner part of dE1256 is perfectly modelled with a simple Sérsic function of index n = 0.63 and half-light radius Rh = 0.6 kpc, but in contrast, the entire galaxy has a size of Rh = 1.2 kpc. The mass ratio between the host and the putative accreted dwarf galaxy is calculated to be 5:1, assuming that the observed two components, inner Sérsic and outer tidal tail residual, represent the host’s and accreted galaxy’s stellar populations, respectively. We suggest that while the accretion contributes only 20 per cent of the overall stellar population, the size of dE1256 grew by a factor of two via the accretion event. Our results provide, for the first time, strong observational evidence that a dE is undergoing a two-phase growth, a common phenomenon for massive galaxies.
Research Organization:
US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington, DC (United States). Office of Science, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
Sponsoring Organization:
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE
OSTI ID:
1908308
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2425160
Journal Information:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Journal Name: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 520; ISSN 1745-3925; ISSN 1745-3933
Publisher:
Royal Astronomical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
galaxies: dwarf
galaxies: evolution
galaxies: interactions
galaxies: irregular
galaxies: starburst