Galaxy Disruption Caught in the Act
Abstract
Direct evidence of stellar material from galaxy disruption in the intra-cluster medium (ICM) relies on challenging observations of individual stars, planetary nebulae and diffuse optical light. Here we show that the ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) we have discovered in the Fornax Cluster are a new and easy-to-measure probe of disruption in the ICM. We present spectroscopic observations supporting the hypothesis that the UCDs are the remnant nuclei of tidally ``threshed'' dwarf galaxies. Deep optical imaging of the cluster has revealed a 43-kpc long arc of tidal debris, flanking a nucleated dwarf elliptical (dE,N) cluster member. We may be witnessing galaxy threshing in action.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0310448,
title = {Galaxy Disruption Caught in the Act},
author = {A. M. Karick and M. J. Drinkwater and M. West and M. D. Gregg and M. Hilker},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0310448},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
2 pages, 2 figures, to be published in "IAU Symposium 217, Recycling Intergalactic and Interstellar Matter", ASP Conf. Series