First Results from the K-DRIFT pathfinder: A Single Curved Stellar Stream in the Nearby Galaxy NGC 5907

  • Byun, Woowon (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
  • Published : 2021.10.13

Abstract

In a ΛCDM universe, most galaxies are believed to evolve by mergers and accretions. The debris resulting from such processes remains faint and/or diffuse structures, such as tidal streams and stellar halos. Although these structures are a good indicator of the recent mass assembly history of galaxies, they have the disadvantage of being difficult to observe due to their low surface brightness (LSB). To recover these LSB features by reducing the photometric uncertainties introduced by the optics system, we attempt to develop an optimized telescope, called a linear astigmatism free-three mirror system, that minimizes the loss and scattering of light within the telescope. With that prototype, we observe NGC 5907, known as a nearby galaxy with a fabulous loop structure(s), to inspect its performance. After a dedicated data reduction process, including flat-fielding with dark sky flat and sky subtraction, our observation reaches a 1σ surface brightness limit of μlim,r ≃ 28.3 mag arcsec-2 in 10×10 arcsec boxes. We finally identify a single tidal stream that is likely the remnant of a nearly disrupted galaxy. This finding emphasizes that the capability of LSB detection with our telescope is comparable to that of much larger telescopes.

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