Bibcode
Martínez-Delgado, D.; Gabany, R. Jay; Peñarrubia, Jorge; Rix, Hans-Walter; Majewski, Steven R.; Trujillo, I.; Pohlen, Michael
Referencia bibliográfica
Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics V, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. ISBN 978-3-642-11249-2. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2010, p. 163
Fecha de publicación:
2010
Número de citas
0
Número de citas referidas
0
Descripción
Within the hierarchical framework for galaxy formation, merging and
tidal interactions are expected to shape large galaxies to this day.
While major mergers are quite rare at present, minor mergers and
satellite disruptions-which result in stellar streams-should be common,
and are indeed seen in both the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. As a
pilot study, we have carried out ultra-deep, wide-field imaging of some
spiral galaxies in the Local Volume, which has revealed external views
of such stellar tidal streams at unprecedented detail, with data taken
at small robotic telescopes (0.1-0.5m) that provide exquisite
surface brightness sensitivity. The goal of this project is to undertake
the first systematic and comprehensive imaging survey of stellar tidal
streams, from a sample of˜50 nearby Milky Way-like spiral galaxies
within 15Mpc, that features a surface brightness sensitivity
of˜30mag/arcsec2. The survey will result in estimates
of the incidence, size/geometry and stellar luminosity/mass distribution
of such streams. This will not only put our Milky Way and M31 in context
but, for the first time, also provide an extensive statistical basis for
comparison with state-of-the-art, self-consistent cosmological
simulations of this phenomenon.