A Search for H I in Five Elliptical Galaxies with Fine Structure
Abstract
We report on VLA H I spectral line observations of five early-type galaxies classified as optically peculiar because of the presence of jets, ripples, or other optical fine structure. We detect H I within the primary beam (30' half-power beamwidth) in four of the five systems. However, in only one case is this gas associated with the targeted elliptical galaxy. In the other cases the H I is associated with a nearby gas-rich disk or dwarf galaxy. The one H I detection is for NGC 7626, where we tentatively detect an H I cloud lying between 20 and 40 kpc southwest of the galaxy center. Its origin is unclear. Our failure to detect obvious tidal H I features suggests that if these fine-structure elliptical galaxies are remnants of disk galaxy mergers, either the progenitors were gas-poor or they are well evolved and any gaseous tidal features have dispersed and/or been converted into other phases. Our targeted systems all reside in groups or clusters, and it seems likely that tidal H I is shorter lived in these environments than suggested by studies of more isolated merger remnants.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- February 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1086/345822
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0211003
- Bibcode:
- 2003AJ....125..667H
- Keywords:
-
- Galaxies: Individual: NGC Number: NGC 3610;
- galaxies: individual (NGC 3640);
- Galaxies: Individual: NGC Number: NGC 4382;
- galaxies: individual (NGC 5322);
- galaxies: individual (NGC 7626);
- Galaxies: Interactions;
- Galaxies: ISM;
- Galaxies: Peculiar;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 23 pages, 12 figures