Ultra-deep imaging of nearby dwarf irregular galaxies: stellar haloes and disk structure

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Hauptverfasser: Hunter, Deidre A., Elmegreen, Bruce G.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Hunter, Deidre A.
Elmegreen, Bruce G.
author_facet Hunter, Deidre A.
Elmegreen, Bruce G.
contents We have examined the stellar structure of 10 nearby, low stellar mass (10^6 to 6 x 10^7 Msolar) dwarf irregular galaxies by fitting ellipses as a function of surface brightness on ultra-deep V images. These are compared to far ultraviolet images as tracers of the star formation. We find that the often asymmetrical distribution of large patches of star formation activity in dwarfs, even out to low disk surface brightness levels, skews the broad-band optical isophotes in these galaxies. We also looked for evidence of the presence of a stellar halo. Possible hints of such are found in several galaxies from irregularities in the ellipses, but a stack of seven of the galaxies shows a pure exponential out to a V surface brightness of 32.3 mag/arcsec^2 where the stellar surface density is 0.0013 +/- 0.0011 Msolar/pc^2. The extended stellar component, most likely a disk structure, is probably due to internal evolutionary processes rather than external accretion. The UBVI colors of the annuli are consistent with ages of 1-6 Gyr for the far outer stellar disk.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_00262
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ultra-deep imaging of nearby dwarf irregular galaxies: stellar haloes and disk structure
Hunter, Deidre A.
Elmegreen, Bruce G.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We have examined the stellar structure of 10 nearby, low stellar mass (10^6 to 6 x 10^7 Msolar) dwarf irregular galaxies by fitting ellipses as a function of surface brightness on ultra-deep V images. These are compared to far ultraviolet images as tracers of the star formation. We find that the often asymmetrical distribution of large patches of star formation activity in dwarfs, even out to low disk surface brightness levels, skews the broad-band optical isophotes in these galaxies. We also looked for evidence of the presence of a stellar halo. Possible hints of such are found in several galaxies from irregularities in the ellipses, but a stack of seven of the galaxies shows a pure exponential out to a V surface brightness of 32.3 mag/arcsec^2 where the stellar surface density is 0.0013 +/- 0.0011 Msolar/pc^2. The extended stellar component, most likely a disk structure, is probably due to internal evolutionary processes rather than external accretion. The UBVI colors of the annuli are consistent with ages of 1-6 Gyr for the far outer stellar disk.
title Ultra-deep imaging of nearby dwarf irregular galaxies: stellar haloes and disk structure
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.00262