GASS 3505: the prototype of HI-excess, passive galaxies

Abstract

We present our multiwavelength analysis of a prototype \HI-excess galaxy, GASS 3505, selected based on having a large gas content ($M_{\mathrm{HI}}=10^{9.9}$ \msun) compared to its little associated star formation activity ($\sim$0.1 \msun\ yr${}^{-1}$) in the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS). Very Large Array (VLA) observations show that the \HI\ in GASS 3505 is distributed in a regularly rotating, extended ($\sim$50 kpc radius) gas ring. In the SDSS optical image GASS 3505 appears as a bulge-dominated galaxy, however deep optical imaging reveals low surface brightness ($\gtrsim 25$ mag arcsec${}^{-2}$) stellar emission around the central bulge. Direct evidence for accretion is detected in form of an extended ($\sim$60 kpc) stellar stream, showing that GASS 3505 has experienced a minor merger in the recent past. We investigate the possibility that the \HI\ ring in GASS 3505 was accreted in such a merger event using N-body and smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations. The best model that reproduces the general properties (i.e., gas distribution and kinematics, stellar morphology) of the galaxy involves a merger between the central bulge and a gas-rich ($M_{\star }$ = 10${}^9$ \msun\ and $M_{\mathrm{HI}}$/$M_{\star }$ = 10) disk galaxy. However, small discrepancies in the observed and modeled properties could suggest that other sources of gas have to be involved in the build-up of the gas reservoir. This work is the first step toward a larger program to investigate the physical mechanisms that drive the large scatter in the gas scaling relations of nearby galaxies.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• Atomic hydrogen reservoirs in quiescent galaxies at z = 0.4