Deep imaging of the very isolated dwarf galaxy NGC6789
Abstract
We present deep optical imaging of the extremely isolated dwarf galaxy NGC 6789, obtained with the new 2-meter Two-meter Twin Telescope (TTT3) at Teide Observatory. Despite its location in the Local Void, NGC 6789 exhibits surprising recent central star formation equivalent to approximately 4% of its total stellar mass. The origin of the gas necessary for this level of star formation remains unknown. Our data reach surface brightness limits of 29.8, 29.4, and 28.9 mag arcsec in the Sloan g, r, and i filters, respectively, and reveal no evidence of tidal features or merger remnants down to 30 mag arcsec (or equivalently, at a radial distance larger than 1.6 kpc). The galaxy's undisturbed outer elliptical morphology suggests that its recent central star formation was likely produced by either in-situ residual gas or by the accretion of external pristine gas not associated with a minor merging activity.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.07041,
title = {Deep imaging of the very isolated dwarf galaxy NGC6789},
author = {Ignacio Trujillo and Sergio Guerra Arencibia and Ignacio Ruiz Cejudo and Mireia Montes and Miguel R. Alarcon and Miquel Serra-Ricart},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.07041},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society; 3 pages, 1 figure