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Paper: Deep CCD Surface Photometry of the Halo of NGC 3115
Volume: 165, The Third Stromlo Symposium: The Galactic Halo
Page: 197
Authors: Fry, Anne M.; Morrison, Heather L.; Harding, Paul; Boroson, Todd
Abstract: We have obtained surface photometry of the nearby edge-on S0 galaxy NGC 3115 reliably to R = 28.0 mag / sq. arcsec (B = 29.5 mag / sq. arcsec) with the Burrell Schmidt. The galaxy's light is well described by an r^{1/4} fit down to R = 27.5 mag / sq. arcsec. At fainter magnitudes, the isophotes become egg-shaped and are still aligned with the major axis. This would be consistent with a galaxy in the very late stages of a major merger. We have detected a stellar halo to a distance of 30 kpc and agree with surface brightness estimates derived from Elson's (1997) HST stellar photometry, a useful consistency check at faint surface brightness levels where accurate surface photometry is extremely difficult.
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