Galaxy interactions in the Hickson Compact Group 88

I present observations of the Hickson Compact Group 88 (HCG88) obtained during the commissioning of a new 28-inch telescope at the Wise Observatory. This galaxy group was advertized to be non-interacting, or to be in a very early interaction stage, but this is not the case. The observations reported...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2015-12, Vol.454 (3), p.3222-3228
Main Author: Brosch, Noah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Commissioning
Galaxies
H II regions
Luminance
Space telescopes
Spaceborne telescopes
Spectral bands
Stars & galaxies
Symbols
Twisting
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Summary:I present observations of the Hickson Compact Group 88 (HCG88) obtained during the commissioning of a new 28-inch telescope at the Wise Observatory. This galaxy group was advertized to be non-interacting, or to be in a very early interaction stage, but this is not the case. The observations reported here were done using a ‘luminance’ filter, essentially a very broad R filter, reaching a low surface brightness level of ≈26 mag arcsec−2. Additional observations were obtained in a narrow spectral band approximately centred on the rest-frame H α line from the group. Contrary to previous studies, my observations show that at least two of the major galaxies have had significant interactions in the past, although probably not between themselves. I report the discovery of a faint extended tail emerging from the brightest of the group galaxies, severe isophote twisting and possible outer shells around another galaxy, and map the H ii regions in all the galaxies.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stv2199