The haloes and environments of nearby galaxies (HERON) - III. A 45-kpc spiral structure in the GLSB galaxy UGC 4599

Aleksandr V. Mosenkov*, R. Michael Rich, Michael Fusco, Julia Kennefick, David Thilker, Alexander Marchuk, Noah Brosch, Michael West, Michael Gregg, Francis Longstaff, Andreas J. Koch-Hansen, Shameer Abdeen, William Roque

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use a 0.7-m telescope in the framework of the Halos and Environments of Nearby Galaxies (HERON) survey to probe low surface brightness (LSB) structures in nearby galaxies. One of our targets, UGC 4599, is usually classified as an early-type galaxy surrounded by a blue ring making it a potential Hoag's Object analogue. Prior photometric studies of UGC 4599 were focused on its bright core and the blue ring. However, the HERON survey allows us to study its faint extended regions. With an 8-h integration, we detect an extremely faint outer disc with an extrapolated central surface brightness of μ0, d(r) = 25.5 mag arcsec-2 down to 31 mag arcsec-2 and a scale length of 15 kpc. We identify two distinct spiral arms of pitch angle ∼6° surrounding the ring. The spiral arms are detected out to ∼45 kpc in radius and the faint disc continues to ∼70 kpc. These features are also seen in the GALEX far- and near-ultraviolet bands, in a deep u-band image from the 4.3-m Lowell Discovery Telescope (which reveals inner spiral structure emerging from the core), and in H i. We compare this galaxy to ordinary spiral and elliptical galaxies, giant low surface brightness (GLSB) galaxies, and Hoag's Object itself using several standard galaxy scaling relations. We conclude that the pseudo-bulge and disc properties of UGC 4599 significantly differ from those of Hoag's Object and of normal galaxies, pointing toward a GLSB galaxy nature and filamentary accretion of gas to generate its outer disc.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3016-3031
Number of pages16
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume525
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2023

Funding

FundersFunder number
Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey
Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University
Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom
National Science FoundationAST-1005313
U.S. Department of EnergyDE-AC02-05CH1123
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNAS5-26555, NNX09AF08G
Division of Astronomical SciencesAST-0950945
Arkansas Space Grant Consortium
Office of Science
High Energy Physics
Ohio State University
University of Chicago
National Centre for Supercomputing Applications
Higher Education Funding Council for England
Space Telescope Science Institute
National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
National Natural Science Foundation of China11433005
Chinese Academy of SciencesXDB09000000
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
Ministry of Finance114A11KYSB20160057
Russian Science Foundation22-22-00483
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences

    Keywords

    • galaxies: evolution
    • galaxies: formation
    • galaxies: photometry
    • galaxies: spiral
    • galaxies: structure

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