Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-6-2016

Publication Title

The Astronomical Journal

Volume

152

Issue Number

3

DOI

10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/72

Keywords

galaxies: evolution, galaxies: interactions, galaxies: structure

Disciplines

Astrophysics and Astronomy | External Galaxies

Abstract

Stellar streams have become central to studies of the interaction histories of nearby galaxies. To characterize the most prominent parts of the stellar stream around the well-known nearby (d = 17 Mpc) edge-on disk galaxy NGC 5907, we have obtained and analyzed new, deep gri Subaru/Suprime-Cam and 3.6 μm Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera observations. Combining the near-infrared 3.6 μm data with visible-light images allows us to use a long wavelength baseline to estimate the metallicity and age of the stellar population along an ~60 kpc long segment of the stream. We have fitted the stellar spectral energy distribution with a single-burst stellar population synthesis model and we use it to distinguish between the proposed satellite accretion and minor/major merger formation models of the stellar stream around this galaxy. We conclude that a massive minor merger (stellar mass ratio of at least 1:8) can best account for the metallicity of −0.3 inferred along the brightest parts of the stream.

Comments

This article was originally published in The Astronomical Journal, volume 152, issue 3. © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. This article is also available online at the following link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/72

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