Issue |
A&A
Volume 574, February 2015
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A111 | |
Number of page(s) | 8 | |
Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425263 | |
Published online | 04 February 2015 |
A forming wide polar-ring galaxy at z ~ 0.05 in the VST Deep Field of the Fornax cluster⋆
1
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, via Moiariello
16,
80131
Naples,
Italy
e-mail:
iodice@na.astro.it
2
Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Napoli “Federico
II”, via Cintia 21,
80126
Naples,
Italy
3
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo, via
Maggini, 64100
Teramo,
Italy
Received: 3 November 2014
Accepted: 21 November 2014
We present the first deep photometry of what may be a good candidate for a forming polar-ring galaxy at redshift z ≃ 0.05. The object FCSS J033710.0-354727 is a background galaxy in the VST Deep Field of the Fornax cluster. The deep exposures combined with the high angular resolution of the OmegaCam at VST allowed us to carry out the first detailed photometric analysis for this system in the g and i bands to derive the galaxy structure and colors. Results show that the central object resembles a disk galaxy, surrounded by a ring-like structure that is twice as extended as the central disk. The warped geometry and bright knots observed along the polar direction, as well as some debris detected on the NW side with colors similar to those of the galaxy, suggest that the polar structure is still forming. We argue that the wide polar ring or disk is the result of the ongoing disruption of a companion galaxy in the potential well of the central object, which is two to three times more massive than the accreting galaxy.
Key words: galaxies: photometry / galaxies: peculiar / galaxies: structure / galaxies: formation / surveys
© ESO, 2015
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