NGC 6868 : a merger with dust and extended Ly-alpha emission.
Norgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Jorgensen, H. E.; Hansen, L.
Denmark
Abstract
We present IUE observations of the E2 galaxy NGC 6868 showing extended Lyα emission and a weak UV continuum source which also seems extended. Along the lines of sight to the Lyα clouds the column density of neutral hydrogen must be extremely low. Ground based CCD imaging shows the distribution of interstellar dust and optical emission line gas. Outside the central dust lane weak, spiral-like absorption features are detected suggesting a recent merger event. The observed Lyα/Hα ratio is larger than unity. The UV source may be sufficiently strong to ionize the line emitting clouds.