DES J024008.08-551047.5:A new member of the polar ring galaxy family

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and analysis of a new polar ring galaxy candidate, DES J024008.08-551047.5, characterized by an orthogonal ring structure, distinct photometric properties, and a low Sersic index, expanding the family of known PRGs.

Contribution

The study identifies a new potential polar ring galaxy with detailed photometric analysis, highlighting its orthogonal ring structure and unique properties compared to other ring galaxies.

Findings

The galaxy has a nearly orthogonal ring component with a position angle of 80 degrees.

The ring is bluer and three times more extended than the host galaxy.

The low Sersic index (0.13) supports its classification as a polar ring galaxy.

Abstract

During the visual observations of optical imaging data obtained from the DECaLS, a serendipitous discovery emerged, revealing the presence of a ringed galaxy, DES J024008.08-551047.5 (DJ0240). We performed one dimensional isophotal and two-dimensional GALFIT analysis to confirm the orthogonal nature of the ring galaxy and identify distinct components within the host galaxy. We discovered the galaxy DJ0240 as a potential PRG candidate with a ring component positioned almost perpendicular to the host galaxy. The position angles of the ring and host components have been determined to be 80 and 10 degrees, respectively, indicating that they are nearly orthogonal to each other. We observed that the ring component extends three times more than the host galaxy and shows a distinct colour separation, being bluer than the host. The estimated g - r colour values of host and ring components are 0.86+/-0.02 and 0.59+/-0.10 mag, respectively. The colour value of the ring component is similar to typical spiral galaxies. The host galaxy`s colour and the presence of a bulge and disk components indicate the possibility of the host galaxy being a lenticular type. Based on the comparison of photometric properties between the PRGs and other ring-type galaxies (RTGs), our findings reveal a subtle, yet noticeable, colour difference between the host and ring components. We observed that both host and ring components of DJ0240 align more closely with PRGs than with RTGs. Furthermore, we compared the sersic index values of the ring component (nring) of galaxy DJ0240 with a selected sample of PRGs and Hoag-type galaxies. The results showed DJ0240 had a remarkably low nring value of 0.13, supporting the galaxy`s classification as a PRG. Hence, we suggest that the ring galaxy DJ0240 is a highly promising candidate for inclusion in the family of PRGs.