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QUIESCENT ISOLATION: THE EXTREMELY EXTENDED H I HALO OF THE OPTICALLY COMPACT DWARF GALAXY ADBS 113845+2008

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John M. Cannon1,2, John J. Salzer2,3 and Jessica L. Rosenberg4

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We present new optical imaging and spectroscopy and H I spectral line imaging of the dwarf galaxy ADBS 113845 + 2008 (hereafter ADBS 1138). This metal-poor (Z ~ 30% Z ), "post-starburst" system has one of the most compact stellar distributions known in any galaxy to date (B-band exponential scale length = 0.57 kpc). In stark contrast to the compact stellar component, the neutral gas is extremely extended; H I is detected to a radial distance of ~25 kpc at the 1019 cm–2 level (gsim 44 B-band scale lengths). Comparing to measurements of similar "giant disk" dwarf galaxies in the literature, ADBS 1138 has the largest known H I-to-optical size ratio. The stellar component is located near the center of a broken ring of H I that is ~15 kpc in diameter; column densities peak in this structure at the ~3.5 × 1020 cm–2 level. At the center of this ring, in a region of comparatively low H I column density, we find ongoing star formation traced by Hα emission. We sample the rotation curve to the point of turn over; this constrains the size of the dark matter halo of the galaxy, which outweighs the luminous component (stars + gas) by at least a factor of 15. To explain these enigmatic properties, we examine "inside-out" and "outside-in" evolutionary scenarios. Calculations of star formation energetics indicate that "feedback" from concentrated star formation is not capable of producing the ring structure; we posit that this is a system where the large H I disk is evolving in quiescent isolation. In a global sense, this system is exceedingly inefficient at converting neutral gas into stars.


Keywords

galaxies: dwarf; galaxies: ISM; galaxies: individual (ADBS 113845+2008); galaxies: starburst


Dates

Issue 2 (2009 May 10)

Received 2009 January 22, accepted for publication 2009 February 25

Published 2009 April 28



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