Polar Disk Galaxies as new way to study galaxy formation: the case of NGC4650A

TL;DR

This paper explores NGC4650A, a polar disk galaxy, as a unique laboratory for studying galaxy formation, dark matter halo shape, and gravitational interactions through detailed structural, metallicity, and dynamical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces two projects that analyze the formation and dark halo properties of NGC4650A, providing new insights into galaxy evolution and dark matter distribution.

Findings

Constraints on the formation scenario of polar disks.

Insights into the shape and content of the dark matter halo.

Analysis of metallicity and dynamics of NGC4650A.

Abstract

NGC4650A is a polar disk galaxy: this is a peculiar object composed by a central spheroidal component, the host galaxy (HG), and an extended disk made up by gas, stars and dust, which orbits nearly perpendicular to the plane of the central galaxy. The existence of two decoupled components of the angular momentum let this object the ideal laboratory i) to study gravitational interactions and merging and ii) to constrain the 3D shape of its dark matter halo. In view of these applications, I will present two ongoing projects which aim to constrain i) the formation scenario for polar disks and ii) the dark halo content and shape, through a detailed analysis of the observed structure, metallicity and dynamics of NGC4650A.