News

Context:  Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are divided into slow and fast rotators (FRs and SRs) according to the degree of ordered rotation of their stellar populations. Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations indicate that galaxies form as FRs before their rotational support decreases, usually because of mergers.
Aims: We aimed to investigate this process observationally for galaxies outside of clusters..
Methods:  We made use of the fact that different merger types leave different traces that have different lifetimes. We statistically analyzed multiple characteristics of galaxies that are expected to be influenced by mergers, such as tidal features, kinematically distinct cores, and stellar ages. They were taken from the MATLAS and ATLAS^3D databases. Through multilinear regression we identified the quantities that, at a fixed mass and environmental density of the galaxy, significantly correlate with a measure of the ordered rotation of the galaxy, λ_Re^N.

Continue reading “Origin of the differences in rotational support among early-type galaxies: The case of galaxies outside clusters”

The characterization of Low Surface Brightness (LSB) stellar structures around galaxies such as tidal debris of on-going or past collisions is essential to constrain models of galactic evolution. Our goal is to obtain quantitative measurements of LSB structures identified in deep images of samples consisting of hundreds of galaxies. We developed an online annotation tool that enables contributors to delineate the shapes of diffuse extended stellar structures, as well as artefacts or foreground structures. All parameters are automatically stored in a database which may be queried to retrieve quantitative measurements. We annotated LSB structures around 352 nearby massive galaxies with deep images obtained with the CFHT as part of two large programs: MATLAS and UNIONS/CFIS.

Continue reading “Characterization of Low Surface Brightness structures in annotated deep images”

Context. The lenticular galaxy NGC 474 hosts a rich system of tidal shells and streams, some of which are exceptionally bright. Two teams recently presented spectroscopic observations of the brightest shells. These were the first shell spectra ever published. They studied the stellar populations of the shell, of the center of the galaxy and of its globular clusters.
Aims. The precise formation scenario for the tidal features of this prominent galaxy however still remained unclear. Here, we add further clues on their formation from the radii of the shells, and we present a scenario for the formation of the tidal features that seems to be unique and explaining all available data.
Methods. Shell radii are analyzed with the shell identification method, and we run self-consistent simulations of the formation of the tidal features.

Continue reading “Origin of the spectacular tidal shells of the galaxy NGC 474”

Context. The HI content of dwarf galaxies provides valuable insights into the effects of the internal processes and the environment on galaxy morphology and evolution.
Aims. We investigate the HI properties of the 2210 dwarf and ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the low to moderate density environ- ments of the Mass Assembly of early-Type GaLAxies with their fine Structures (MATLAS) survey. We examine how these properties correlate with the optical properties, morphology and local environment of the dwarfs.
Methods. We make use of the HI data obtained with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the context of the ATLAS3D HI survey. These HI observations are combined with the extragalactic HI sources from the ALFALFA survey study the HI content in the MATLAS dwarfs located in the targeted regions of the sky.

Continue reading “HI observations of the MATLAS dwarf and ultra-diffuse galaxies”

Recent advances in deep dedicated imaging surveys over the past decade have uncovered a surprisingly large number of extremely faint low surface brightness galaxies with large physical sizes called ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in clusters and, more recently, in lower density environments. As part of the MATLAS survey, a deep imaging large program at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), our team has identified 2210 dwarf galaxies, 59 (~3%) of which qualify as UDGs. Averaging over the survey area, we find ~0.4 UDG per square degree. They are found in a range of low to moderate density environments, although 61% of the sample fall within the virial radii of groups.

Continue reading “Ultra-Diffuse galaxies in the MATLAS low-to-moderate density fields”

Ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) are very low-surface brightness galaxies with large effective radii. Spectroscopic measurements of a few UDGs have revealed a low dark matter content, based on the internal motion of stars or globular clusters (GCs). This is in contrast to the large number of GCs found for these systems, from which it would be expected to correspond to a large dark matter halo mass. Here we present Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera Survey observations for the UDG MATLAS-2019 in the NGC5846 group of galaxies.

Continue reading “Dwarf galaxies in the MATLAS survey: Hubble Space Telescope observations of the globular cluster system in the ultra-diffuse galaxy MATLAS-2019”

It was first observed in the 1970s that the dwarf galaxies surrounding our Milky Way, so-called satellites, appear to be arranged in a thin, vast plane. Similar discoveries have been made around additional galaxies in the local Universe such as Andromeda, Centaurus A, and potentially M83. In the specific cases with available kinematic data, the dwarf satellites also appear to preferentially co-orbit their massive host galaxy. Planes of satellites are rare in the lambda cold dark matter (ΛΛCDM) paradigm, although they may be a natural consequence of projection effects. Such a phase-space correlation, however, remains difficult to explain. In this work we analyzed the 2D spatial distribution of 2210 dwarf galaxies around early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the low-to-medium density fields of the “Mass Assembly of early-Type GaLAxies with their fine Structures” (MATLAS) survey. 

Continue reading “Flattened structures of dwarf satellites around massive host galaxies in the MATLAS low-to-medium density fields”