Bibcode
DOI
Balcells, Marc
Bibliographical reference
Astrophysical Journal Letters v.486, p.L87
Advertised on:
9
1997
Citations
24
Refereed citations
20
Description
I report on the discovery of two faint (~26.8 R mag arcsec-2) tidal
tails around the shell elliptical galaxy NGC 3656 (Arp 155). This galaxy
had previously been interpreted as a case of accretion, or minor merger.
The two tidal tails are inconsistent with a minor merger and point
instead to a disk-disk major merger origin. NGC 3656 extends Toomre's
merger sequence toward normal elliptical galaxies and hints at a major
merger origin for shells and minor-axis dust lanes. A dwarf galaxy lies
at the tip of one of the tidal tails. A prominent shell, which shows
sharp azimuthal color discontinuities, belongs to a rotating dynamical
component with young stars that includes the inner dust lane.