We report the discovery of three large (R29 >~ 1 arcminute) extremely low surface brightness (mu_(V,0) ~ 27.0) galaxies identified using our deep, wide-field imaging of the Virgo Cluster from the Burrell Schmidt telescope. Complementary data from the
Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey do not resolve red giant branch stars in these objects down to i=24, yielding a lower distance limit of 2.5 Mpc. At the Virgo distance, these objects have half-light radii 3-10 kpc and luminosities L_V=2-9x10^7 Lsun. These galaxies are comparable in size but lower in surface brightness than the large ultradiffuse LSB galaxies recently identified in the Coma cluster, and are located well within Virgos virial radius; two are projected directly on the cluster core. One object appears to be a nucleated LSB in the process of being tidally stripped to form a new Virgo ultracompact dwarf galaxy. The others show no sign of tidal disruption, despite the fact that such objects should be most vulnerable to tidal destruction in the cluster environment. The relative proximity of Virgo makes these objects amenable to detailed studies of their structural properties and stellar populations. They thus provide an important new window onto the connection between cluster environment and galaxy evolution at the extremes.
We use deep surface photometry of the giant elliptical M49 (NGC 4472), obtained as part of our survey for diffuse light in the Virgo Cluster, to study the stellar populations in its outer halo. Our data trace M49s stellar halo out to ~ 100 kpc (7 Re)
, where we find that the shallow color gradient seen in the inner regions becomes dramatically steeper. The outer regions of the galaxy are quite blue (B-V ~ 0.7); if this is purely a metallicity effect, it argues for extremely metal poor stellar populations with [Fe/H] < -1. We also find that the extended accretion shells around M49 are distinctly redder than the galaxys surrounding halo, suggesting that we are likely witnessing the buildup of both the stellar mass and metallicity in M49s outer halo due to late time accretion. While such growth of galaxy halos is predicted by models of hierarchical accretion, this growth is thought to be driven by more massive accretion events which have correspondingly higher mean metallicity than inferred for M49s halo. Thus the extremely metal-poor nature of M49s extended halo provides some tension against current models for elliptical galaxy formation.
We have used deep, wide-field optical imaging to study the faint outskirts of the luminous spiral galaxy M101 (NGC 5457), as well as its surrounding environment. Over six square degrees, our imaging has a limiting surface brightness of mu_B ~ 29.5 ma
g/arcsec^2, and has revealed the stellar structure of M101s disk out to nearly 25 arcminutes (50 kpc), three times our measured R25 isophotal size of the optical disk. At these radii, the well-known asymmetry of the inner disk slews 180 degrees, resulting in an asymmetric plume of light at large radius which follows the very extended HI disk to the northeast of M101. This plume has very blue colors (B-V ~ 0.2), suggesting it is the somewhat more evolved (few hundred Myr to ~ 1 Gyr) counterpart of the young far ultraviolet emitting population traced by GALEX imaging. We also detect another, redder spur of extended light to the east of the disk, and both structures are reminiscent of features produced during fly-by galaxy interactions. However, we see no evidence of very extended tidal tails around M101 or any of its companions which might be expected from a recent encounter with a massive companion. We consider the properties of M101s outer disk in light of possible past interactions with the nearby companion galaxies NGC 5477 and NGC 5474. The detection of optical starlight at such large radii gives us the ability to study star formation histories and stellar populations in outer disks over a longer timescales than those traced by the UV or Halpha emitting populations. Our data suggest ongoing buildup of the M101s outer disk due to encounters in the group environment triggering extended star formation and tidal heating of existing disk populations.
We present a wide (8.5x6.7 degree, 1050x825 kpc), deep (sigma(N_HI)=10^(16.8-17.5) cm^-2) neutral hydrogen (HI) map of the M101 galaxy group. We identify two new HI sources in the group environment, one an extremely low surface brightness (and hither
to unknown) dwarf galaxy, and the other a starless HI cloud, possibly primordial in origin. Our data show that M101s extended HI envelope (Huchtmeier & Witzel 1979) takes the form of a ~100 kpc long tidal loop or plume of HI extending to the southwest of the galaxy. The plume has an HI mass ~ 10^8 Msun and a peak column density of N_HI=5x10^17 cm^-2, and while it rotates with the main body of M101, it shows kinematic peculiarities suggestive of a warp or flaring out of the rotation plane of the galaxy. We also find two new HI clouds near the plume with masses ~ 10^7 Msun, similar to HI clouds seen in the M81/M82 group, and likely also tidal in nature. Comparing to deep optical imaging of the M101 group, neither the plume nor the clouds have any extended optical counterparts down to a limiting surface brightness of mu_B = 29.5. We also trace HI at intermediate velocities between M101 and NGC 5474, strengthening the case for a recent interaction between the two galaxies. The kinematically complex HI structure in the M101 group, coupled with the optical morphology of M101 and its companions, suggests that the group is in a dynamically active state that is likely common for galaxies in group environments.
