English

Streams, Shells, and Substructures in the Accretion-Built Stellar Halo of NGC 300

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2025-01-09 v1

Abstract

We present deep optical observations of the stellar halo of NGC 300, an LMC-mass galaxy, acquired with the DEEP sub-component of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE) using the 4 m Blanco Telescope. Our resolved star analysis reveals a large, low surface brightness stellar stream (MV8.5M_{V}\sim-8.5; [Fe/H] =1.4±0.15= -1.4\pm0.15) extending more than 40 kpc north from the galaxy's center. We also find other halo structures, including potentially an additional stream wrap to the south, which may be associated with the main stream. The morphology and derived low metallicities of the streams and shells discovered surrounding NGC 300 are highly suggestive of a past accretion event. Assuming a single progenitor, the accreted system is approximately Fornax-like in luminosity, with an inferred mass ratio to NGC 300 of approximately 1:151:15. We also present the discovery of a metal-poor globular cluster (Rproj=23.3R_{\rm{proj}}=23.3~kpc; MV=8.99±0.16M_{V}=-8.99\pm0.16; [Fe/H] 1.6±0.6\approx-1.6\pm0.6) in the halo of NGC 300, the furthest identified globular cluster associated with NGC 300. The stellar structures around NGC 300 represent the richest features observed in a Magellanic Cloud analog to date, strongly supporting the idea that accretion and subsequent disruption is an important mechanism in the assembly of dwarf galaxy stellar halos.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.04089,
  title  = {Streams, Shells, and Substructures in the Accretion-Built Stellar Halo of NGC 300},
  author = {Catherine E. Fielder and David J. Sand and Michael G. Jones and Denija Crnojević and Alex Drlica-Wagner and Paul Bennet and Jeffrey L. Carlin and William Cerny and Amandine Doliva-Dolinsky and Laura C. Hunter and Ananthan Karunakaran and Guilherme Limberg and Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil and Andrew B. Pace and Sarah Pearson and Adam Smercina and Kristine Spekkens and Tjitske Starkenburg and Jay Strader and Guy S. Stringfellow and Erik Tollerud and Clecio R. Bom and Julio A. Carballo-Bello and Astha Chaturvedi and Yumi Choi and David J. James and Clara E. Martínez-Vázquez and Alex Riley and Joanna Sakowska and Kathy Vivas},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.04089},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

19 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, submitted to ApJL