Origins of the Evil Eye: M64's Stellar Halo Reveals the Recent Accretion of an SMC-mass Satellite

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dc.contributor.authorSmercina, A
dc.contributor.authorBell, EF
dc.contributor.authorPrice, PA
dc.contributor.authorBailin, J
dc.contributor.author[et al.]
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-24T14:48:18Z
dc.date.available2024-05-24T14:48:18Z
dc.date.issued2023-06-01
dc.description.abstractM64, often called the Evil Eye galaxy, is unique among local galaxies. Beyond its dramatic, dusty nucleus, it also hosts an outer gas disk that counter-rotates relative to its stars. The mass of this outer disk is comparable to the gas content of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), prompting the idea that it was likely accreted in a recent minor merger. Yet, detailed follow-up studies of M64's outer disk have shown no evidence of such an event, leading to other interpretations, such as a flyby interaction with the distant diffuse satellite Coma P. We present Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam observations of M64's stellar halo, which resolve its stellar populations and reveal a spectacular radial shell feature, oriented similar to 30 degrees relative to the major axis and along the rotation axis of the outer gas disk. The shell is similar to 45 kpc southeast of M64, while a similar but more diffuse plume to the northwest extends to >100 kpc. We estimate a stellar mass and metallicity for the southern shell of M-star = 1.80 +/- 0.54 x 10(8) M-circle dot and [M/H] = -1.0, respectively, and a similar mass of 1.42 +/- 0.71 x 10(8) M-circle dot for the northern plume. Taking into account the accreted material in M64's inner disk, we estimate a total stellar mass for the progenitor satellite of M-star,M-prog similar or equal to 5 x 10(8) M-circle dot. These results suggest that M64 is in the final stages of a minor merger with a gas-rich satellite strikingly similar to the SMC, in which M64's accreted counter-rotating gas originated, and which is responsible for the formation of its dusty inner star-forming disk.
dc.identifier.citationAdam Smercina et al 2023 ApJL 949 L37 DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/acd5d1
dc.identifier.issn2041-8205
dc.identifier.other2041-8213
dc.identifier.urihttps://conocimientoabierto.online/handle/123456789/44
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
dc.titleOrigins of the Evil Eye: M64's Stellar Halo Reveals the Recent Accretion of an SMC-mass Satellite

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