A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT

We report on the serendipitous discovery of 49 H I-rich galaxies in a 2.3 h Open Time observation with MeerKAT. We present their properties including their H I masses, intensity and velocity maps, and spectra. We determine that at least three H I-rich galaxy groups have been detected, potentially as...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Glowacki, Marcin, Albrow, L., Reynolds, T., Elson, E., Mahony, E.K., Allison, J.R.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2024
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210102103
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96170
_version_ 1848766106131496960
author Glowacki, Marcin
Albrow, L.
Reynolds, T.
Elson, E.
Mahony, E.K.
Allison, J.R.
author_facet Glowacki, Marcin
Albrow, L.
Reynolds, T.
Elson, E.
Mahony, E.K.
Allison, J.R.
author_sort Glowacki, Marcin
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We report on the serendipitous discovery of 49 H I-rich galaxies in a 2.3 h Open Time observation with MeerKAT. We present their properties including their H I masses, intensity and velocity maps, and spectra. We determine that at least three H I-rich galaxy groups have been detected, potentially as part of a supergroup. Some members of these galaxy groups show clear interaction with each other in their H I emission. We cross-match the detections with PanSTARRS, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and obtain stellar masses and star formation rates. One source is found to be a potential OH megamaser, but further follow-up is required to confidently determine this. For six sources with sufficient spatial resolution in H I, we produce rotation curves with BBarolo, generate mass models, and derive a dark matter halo mass. While the number of galaxies detected in this relatively short pointing appears to be at the high end of expectations compared to other MeerKAT observations and group H I mass function studies, this finding highlights the capability of MeerKAT for other serendipitous discoveries, and the potential for many more H I-rich galaxies to be revealed within both existing and upcoming Open Time data sets.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:45:52Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-96170
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:45:52Z
publishDate 2024
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-961702024-11-07T04:18:28Z A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT Glowacki, Marcin Albrow, L. Reynolds, T. Elson, E. Mahony, E.K. Allison, J.R. We report on the serendipitous discovery of 49 H I-rich galaxies in a 2.3 h Open Time observation with MeerKAT. We present their properties including their H I masses, intensity and velocity maps, and spectra. We determine that at least three H I-rich galaxy groups have been detected, potentially as part of a supergroup. Some members of these galaxy groups show clear interaction with each other in their H I emission. We cross-match the detections with PanSTARRS, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and obtain stellar masses and star formation rates. One source is found to be a potential OH megamaser, but further follow-up is required to confidently determine this. For six sources with sufficient spatial resolution in H I, we produce rotation curves with BBarolo, generate mass models, and derive a dark matter halo mass. While the number of galaxies detected in this relatively short pointing appears to be at the high end of expectations compared to other MeerKAT observations and group H I mass function studies, this finding highlights the capability of MeerKAT for other serendipitous discoveries, and the potential for many more H I-rich galaxies to be revealed within both existing and upcoming Open Time data sets. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96170 10.1093/mnras/stae684 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210102103 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Glowacki, Marcin
Albrow, L.
Reynolds, T.
Elson, E.
Mahony, E.K.
Allison, J.R.
A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT
title A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT
title_full A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT
title_fullStr A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT
title_full_unstemmed A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT
title_short A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT
title_sort serendipitous discovery of h i-rich galaxy groups with meerkat
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210102103
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96170