TY - JOUR
T1 - Discovery of Ram-pressure Stripped Gas around an Elliptical Galaxy in Abell 2670
AU - Sheen, Yun Kyeong
AU - Smith, Rory
AU - Jaffé, Yara
AU - Kim, Minjin
AU - Yi, Sukyoung K.
AU - Duc, Pierre Alain
AU - Nantais, Julie
AU - Candlish, Graeme
AU - Demarco, Ricardo
AU - Treister, Ezequiel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - Studies of cluster galaxies are increasingly finding galaxies with spectacular one-sided tails of gas and young stars, suggestive of intense ram-pressure stripping. These so-called "jellyfish" galaxies typically have late-type morphology. In this paper, we present Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of an elliptical galaxy in Abell 2670 with long tails of material visible in the optical spectra, as well as blobs with tadpole-like morphology. The spectra in the central part of the galaxy reveal a stellar component as well as ionized gas. The stellar component does not have significant rotation, while the ionized gas defines a clear star-forming gas disk. We argue, based on deep optical images of the galaxy, that the gas was most likely acquired during a past wet merger. It is possible that the star-forming blobs are also remnants of the merger. In addition, the direction and kinematics of the one-sided ionized tails, combined with the tadpole morphology of the star-forming blobs, strongly suggests that the system is undergoing ram pressure from the intracluster medium. In summary, this paper presents the discovery of a post-merger elliptical galaxy undergoing ram-pressure stripping.
AB - Studies of cluster galaxies are increasingly finding galaxies with spectacular one-sided tails of gas and young stars, suggestive of intense ram-pressure stripping. These so-called "jellyfish" galaxies typically have late-type morphology. In this paper, we present Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of an elliptical galaxy in Abell 2670 with long tails of material visible in the optical spectra, as well as blobs with tadpole-like morphology. The spectra in the central part of the galaxy reveal a stellar component as well as ionized gas. The stellar component does not have significant rotation, while the ionized gas defines a clear star-forming gas disk. We argue, based on deep optical images of the galaxy, that the gas was most likely acquired during a past wet merger. It is possible that the star-forming blobs are also remnants of the merger. In addition, the direction and kinematics of the one-sided ionized tails, combined with the tadpole morphology of the star-forming blobs, strongly suggests that the system is undergoing ram pressure from the intracluster medium. In summary, this paper presents the discovery of a post-merger elliptical galaxy undergoing ram-pressure stripping.
KW - galaxies: clusters: individual (Abell 2670)
KW - galaxies: clusters: intracluster medium
KW - galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD
KW - galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
KW - galaxies: star formation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019029362&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/aa6d79
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/aa6d79
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019029362
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 840
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
M1 - L7
ER -