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Issue A&A
Volume 411, Number 2, November IV 2003
Page(s) L469 - L472
Section Letters
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20031520



A&A 411, L469-L472 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20031520

Letter

The large extent of dark matter haloes probed by the formation of tidal dwarf galaxies

F. Bournaud1, 2, P.-A. Duc1, 3 and F. Masset1

1  CEA/DSM/DAPNIA, Service d'Astrophysique, Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
2  École Normale Supérieure, 45 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
3  CNRS FRE 2591

(Received 4 July 2003 / Accepted 27 September 2003)

Abstract
In several interacting systems, gas accumulations as massive as 10 9  $M_{\odot}$ are observed near the tip of tidal tails, and are thought to be possible progenitors of Tidal Dwarf Galaxies. Using N-body simulations of galaxy interactions, we show that the existence of such features requires that dark matter haloes around spiral galaxies extend at least ten times further than the stellar disks. The massive gas clouds formed in our simulations have a kinematical origin and gravitationally collapse into dwarf galaxies that often survive for a few billion years.


Key words: galaxies: formation, evolution, interactions, haloes

Offprint request: F. Bournaud, Frederic.Bournaud@obspm.fr




© ESO 2003


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