Description
ESA’s Euclid satellite offers an exceptional combination of high spatial resolution, wide field-of-view, and a stable point spread function (PSF), making it ideal for exploring the Low Surface Brightness (LSB) Universe. The Early Release Observations (EROs) offered remarkable insights into LSB structures, while the Quick Release 1 (Q1) data, spanning 60 square degrees, provides unprecedented opportunities to explore the faint regime. Dwarf galaxies and tidal features resulting from galaxy mergers are particularly suited for such studies, allowing for their characterisation across a range of environments and galaxy properties.
In this talk, I will present a census of dwarf galaxies identified in the Q1 data using a semi-automated selection approach. We investigated their morphologies, distances, masses, and spatial distributions. Additionally, I will share preliminary results on the quantitative characterisation of tidal tails in ongoing galaxy mergers. We compiled a catalogue of tidal features around galaxies in the Local Universe, and I will discuss how these properties correlate with the mass and environment of the host galaxies.
As the properties of the Q1 data closely resemble those of DR1, both studies serve as valuable testbeds for developing scalable methods in preparation for the next data release. For instance, as visual inspection will not be feasible for DR1, our catalogues of dwarf galaxies and tidal features serve as valuable training datasets for deep learning algorithms, enabling automated detection of faint structures in future Euclid data releases.
