Boundary of host tidal debris in PGC 15625

Determine the spatial extent and boundary of the tidal debris pulled from the host dwarf galaxy PGC 15625, distinguishing it from the disrupted satellite’s tidal stream.

Background

The system PGC 15625 shows a clearly disrupted satellite and complex morphologies in the host that may include material pulled from the dwarf galaxy itself. Accurately separating host-derived tidal debris from the satellite stream is necessary to classify the accretion signature correctly and to avoid biasing frequency estimates of streams versus shells.

The authors explicitly state that they do not know where the host's debris material ends in this case, underscoring an unresolved observational boundary problem.