unswsydney OP t1_iy1v3y4 wrote on November 28, 2022 at 2:42 AM

Reply to comment by chucksutherland in Astronomers have piloted a new image treatment procedure for studying the orphan stars between galaxies. Opening the door for future analyses of intra-group light. by unswsydney

Hi, u/chucksutherland - Here's a response from Dr Cristina Martínez-Lombilla

>This fact does not necessarily say anything about the frequency of events (i.e. interactions between galaxies). However, partial tidal stripping of the stars in the outer parts of galaxies (which is what we propose as the main IGL formation driver) is a very likely process as it is more easy to strip some stars from the outer parts of galaxies than a total disruption of a whole galaxy or a major merger, which are other possible scenarios. So, at least for the moment, we cannot say how many interaction events have suffered this group os galaxies but we can say that partial tidal stripping of galaxies if a common process.

chucksutherland t1_iy21owd wrote on November 28, 2022 at 3:37 AM

Thanks for the follow up!