pith. sign in

arxiv: 2605.29618 · v1 · pith:KFPGCA5Vnew · submitted 2026-05-28 · 🌌 astro-ph.GA

A New Cartwheel-like Collisional Ring Galaxy

classification 🌌 astro-ph.GA
keywords galaxyringgalaxiescollisionaldesidiskeridanusformation
0
0 comments X
read the original abstract

We report the discovery of a new Cartwheel-type collisional ring galaxy, PGC\,1112751, which we named ``Eridanus Wheel'' (EW). Such systems result from head-on collisions between galaxies and are of considerable interest as laboratories for studying star formation in propagating density waves and the response of the star-gas disk of galaxies to strong external perturbations. During a systematic visual inspection of fields from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, we identified a galaxy at a redshift of $z=0.0856$ whose morphology closely resembles that of the famous Cartwheel Galaxy. EW exhibits a well-defined inner ring and a more diffuse outer ring, with so-called ``spokes'' visible in the region between them. The ring galaxy and its possible intruder are connected by a faint optical bridge. The projected distance between the centers of the galaxies is about 60 kpc. Using data from the DESI Legacy Surveys, we performed a photometric study of galaxies in the $griz$ filters. We conclude that the Eridanus Wheel is a giant late-type galaxy with a strong radial color gradient, whose observed morphology is most likely explained by a relatively recent head-on collision with an early-type galaxy. The further evolution of this object will most likely lead to the formation of a galaxy with a low surface brightness disk.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet.

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.