Blasting away a dwarf galaxy: The "tail" of ESO 324-G024
Abstract
We present Australia Telescope Compact Array radio data of the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 324-G024 which is seen in projection against the giant, northern lobe of the radio galaxy Centaurus A (Cen A, NGC 5128). The distorted morphology and kinematics of ESO 324-G024, as observed in the 21 cm spectral line emission of neutral hydrogen, indicate disruptions by external forces. We investigate whether tidal interactions and/or ram pressure stripping are responsible for the formation of the HI tail stretching to the northeast of ESO 324-G024 with the latter being most probable. Furthermore, we closely analyze the sub-structure of Cen A's polarized radio lobes to ascertain whether ESO 324-G024 is located in front, within or behind the northern lobe. Our multi-wavelength, multi-component approach allows us to determine that ESO 324-G024 is most likely behind the northern radio lobe of Cen A. This result helps to constrain the orientation of the lobe, which is likely inclined to our line of sight by approximately 60 degrees if NGC 5128 and ESO 324-G024 are at the same distance.
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Cite
@article{arxiv.1505.07554,
title = {Blasting away a dwarf galaxy: The "tail" of ESO 324-G024},
author = {Megan C. Johnson and Peter Kamphuis and Baerbel S. Koribalski and Jing Wang and Se-Heon Oh and Alex S. Hill and Shane O'Sullivan and Sebastian Haan and Paolo Serra},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.07554},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
This paper has been accepted to MNRAS