A Timeline of the M81 Group: Properties of the Extended Structures of M82 and NGC 3077

TL;DR

This study investigates the properties and formation history of the M81 galaxy group, focusing on the stellar halos and tidal streams of M82 and NGC 3077 to understand galaxy mergers and interactions.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of star formation end times and metallicity in the M81 group, revealing the formation history of M82's halo and NGC 3077's tidal tails.

Findings

M82 has a genuine, metal-poor stellar halo formed ~6.6 Gyr ago.

Stars in NGC 3077's tails formed before tidal disruption.

A timeline of the merger and interaction history of the M81 group is presented.

Abstract

Mergers of and interactions between galaxies imprint a wide diversity of morphological, dynamical, and chemical characteristics in stellar halos and tidal streams. Measuring these characteristics elucidates aspects of the progenitors of the galaxies we observe today. The M81 group is the perfect galaxy group to understand the past, present, and future of a group of galaxies in the process of merging. Here we measure the end of star formation (t$_{90}$) and metallicity ([M/H]) of the stellar halo of M82 and the eastern tidal stream of NGC 3077 to: 1) test the idea that M82 possesses a genuine stellar halo, formed before any interaction with M81, 2) determine if NGC 3077's tidal disruption is related to the star formation history in its tails, and 3) create a timeline of the assembly history of the central trio in the M81 group. We argue that M82 possesses a genuine, metal poor ([M/H] ~ -1.62 dex) stellar halo, formed from the merger of a small satellite galaxy roughly 6.6 Gyr ago. We also find that the stars present in NGC 3077's tails formed before tidal disruption with M81, and possesses a roughly uniform metallicity as shown in Okamoto et. al. 2023 implying that NGC 3077's progenitor had significant population gradients. Finally, we present a timeline of the central trio's merger/interaction history.