S22A0107
S22A0107
Lying at D∼ 3.6 Mpc, the M81 Group is one of the nearest galaxy groups; its proximity and resemblance to the Local Group has fuelled much research over several decades. Tidal interactions between M81, M82 and NGC 3077 were initially revealed through HI and some studies argue that these systems have only recently come together for the first time. We have used HSC on Subaru to to carry out a deep photometric survey of resolved stars over 10 sq. degree in the M81 Group, with the aim of better understanding its interaction history. Our survey has uncovered a giant tidal stream emanating from the low luminosity galaxy F8D1, which sits projected at a distance of 120 kpc from M81 and at the edge of our data. This feature, which can be currently traced only on one side, indicates that F8D1 is in an advanced state of tidal disruption and has likely played a previously-unrecognised role in the group interaction history. We request here 5h to obtain a single pointing on the other side of F8D1 to enable us to: [1] characterise the full extent and morphology of the streams, [2] calculate their total luminosity and stellar mass relative to the main body [3] search for line-of-sight distance variations along the tail and [4] search for candidate globular star clusters that could serve as dynamical probes.
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