Resolving the Extended Stellar Halos of Nearby Galaxies: The Wide-Field PISCeS Survey

Abstract

The wide-field Panoramic Imaging Survey of Centaurus and Sculptor (PISCeS) investigates the resolved stellar halos of two nearby galaxies (the spiral NGC 253 and the elliptical Centaurus A, D ∼ 4 Mpc) out to a galactocentric radius of 150 kpc. The survey to date has led to the discovery of 11 confirmed faint satellites and stunning streams/substructures in two environments substantially different from the Local Group; i.e., the loose Sculptor group of galaxies and the Centaurus A group dominated by an elliptical. The newly discovered satellites and substructures, with surface brightness limits as low as ∼32 mag/arcsec 2 , are then followed-up with HST imaging and Keck/VLT spectroscopy to investigate their stellar populations. The PISCeS discoveries clearly testify the past and ongoing accretion processes shaping the halos of these nearby galaxies, and provide the first census of their satellite systems down to an unprecedented M V < − 8 .

Keywords

• galaxies: evolution
• galaxies: groups
• galaxies: halos
• galaxies: photometry