Stellar tidal streams around nearby spiral galaxies with deep imaging from amateur telescopes

Context. Tidal interactions between massive galaxies and their satellites are fundamental processes in a universe with a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology, and they redistribute material into faint features that preserve records of past galactic interactions. While stellar streams in the Local Group impressively demonstrate satellite disruption, they do not constitute a statistically significant sample. Constructing a substantial catalog of stellar streams beyond the Local Group remains challenging due to the difficulties in obtaining sufficiently deep wide-field images of galaxies. Despite their potential to illuminate dark matter distribution and galaxy formation processes overall, stellar streams remain underutilized as cosmological probes. Aims. The Stellar Tidal Stream Survey (STSS) addresses this observational gap by leveraging amateur telescopes to obtain deep scientific-grade images of galactic outskirts capable of building a more statistically meaningful sample of stellar streams. Methods. Over the past decade, the STSS has acquired deep (up to surface brightness limit ∼28.3 mag/arcsec 2 in the r -band) wide-field images of 16 nearby Milky Way analog galaxies using a coordinated network of robotic amateur telescopes, which enabled the survey to avoid the issues associated with “mosaicking” smaller images taken with a single professional telescope. Results. Our survey revealed a diverse range of previously unreported faint features related to dwarf satellite accretion, including stellar streams, shells, and umbrella-like structures. We serendipitously discovered an ultra-diffuse galaxy (NGC150-UDG1) that shows hints of tidal tails. Conclusions. The STSS demonstrates the suitability of modern amateur telescopes to detect and study faint, diffuse structures in large fields around nearby spiral galaxies. Their economic and accessibility advantages enable larger statistical samples with deep imaging, which are essential for testing galaxy formation models and constraining the frequency and properties of minor merger events in the local Universe.

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Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2025-08-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202554980
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15
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article

Stellar tidal streams around nearby spiral galaxies with deep imaging from amateur telescopes

Behnam Javanmardi, Johannes Schedler, R. Jay Gabany, D. J. Bomans et al.
1 citations
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
1.15
article

Stellar tidal streams around nearby spiral galaxies with deep imaging from amateur telescopes

Behnam Javanmardi, Johannes Schedler, R. Jay Gabany, D. J. Bomans, M. Schirmer, Gang Wu, Javier Román, T. Saifollahi, K. Teuwen, Jeff Kanipe, S. Roca-Fàbrega, Michael Stein, Sílvia Farràs-Aloy, M. Á. Gómez-Flechoso, Wolfgang Promper, Álvaro Ibáñez Pérez, J. D. Sakowska, Juan Miró-Carretero, Matthias Weigelt, Mohammad Akhlaghi, C. Henkel, Sepideh Eskandarlou, Ken Crawford, Adam Block, M. A. Jiménez, Mark A. Hanson, E. K. Grebel, 、 Al, David Martínez‐Delgado
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Context. Tidal interactions between massive galaxies and their satellites are fundamental processes in a universe with a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology, and they redistribute material into faint features that preserve records of past galactic interactions. While stellar streams in the Local Group impressively demonstrate satellite disruption, they do not constitute a statistically significant sample. Constructing a substantial catalog of stellar streams beyond the Local Group remains challenging due to the difficulties in obtaining sufficiently deep wide-field images of galaxies. Despite their potential to illuminate dark matter distribution and galaxy formation processes overall, stellar streams remain underutilized as cosmological probes. Aims. The Stellar Tidal Stream Survey (STSS) addresses this observational gap by leveraging amateur telescopes to obtain deep scientific-grade images of galactic outskirts capable of building a more statistically meaningful sample of stellar streams. Methods. Over the past decade, the STSS has acquired deep (up to surface brightness limit ∼28.3 mag/arcsec 2 in the r -band) wide-field images of 16 nearby Milky Way analog galaxies using a coordinated network of robotic amateur telescopes, which enabled the survey to avoid the issues associated with “mosaicking” smaller images taken with a single professional telescope. Results. Our survey revealed a diverse range of previously unreported faint features related to dwarf satellite accretion, including stellar streams, shells, and umbrella-like structures. We serendipitously discovered an ultra-diffuse galaxy (NGC150-UDG1) that shows hints of tidal tails. Conclusions. The STSS demonstrates the suitability of modern amateur telescopes to detect and study faint, diffuse structures in large fields around nearby spiral galaxies. Their economic and accessibility advantages enable larger statistical samples with deep imaging, which are essential for testing galaxy formation models and constraining the frequency and properties of minor merger events in the local Universe.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 701
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), Leiden University (NL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Bonn (DE), University of Arizona (US), Lund University (SE), GTx (United States) (US), University of Cuenca (EC), Heidelberg University (DE), Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (CN), Valencian International University (ES), Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg (FR), Fundacion Agencia Aragonesa para la Investigacion y el Desarrollo (ES), National Solar Observatory (US), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (ES), Left Hand Design (United States) (US), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CL), Unione Italiana del Lavoro (IT), Black Swamp Bird Observatory (US), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES), Université de Strasbourg (FR), Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
1.15
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