Rubin J122659.4+090236: An Extremely Low Surface Brightness Galaxy Candidate Discovered in the Rubin LSST Early Data Preview 2

Dipanjan Mitra; Kanak Saha; Sugata Kaviraj; Alister W. Graham; Sandro Tacchella; Ricardo Demarco; Dieu D. Nguyen; Elham Saremi; hernandez toledo; hector.; Jose Benavides; Natanael M. Cardoso; Samuel Boissier; Dan S. Taranu; Bililign Dullo; Patricia B. Tissera; Matias Blana; Hao Fu; Priyanka Chakraborty; Kevin A. Pimbblet; Tayyaba Zafar; Anirban Dutta; Aidan P Cotter; Darko Donevski; Katarzyna Malek; Rossella Ragusa; Agnieszka Pollo; Unnikrishnan Sureshkumar; Aritra Ghosh; Antonio Vanzanella; Hareesh Thuruthipilly

arXiv · 2609.04967

Rubin J122659.4+090236: An Extremely Low Surface Brightness Galaxy Candidate Discovered in the Rubin LSST Early Data Preview 2

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Abstract

We report the serendipitous discovery of an exceptionally low surface brightness galaxy (LSBG) candidate, Rubin J122659.4+090236, in Rubin Observatory imaging of the interacting NGC 4410 system, identified in the Cosmic Treasure Chest public release. 2D S\'ersic modelling of the Rubin g, r, and i images reveals a nearly round system with a shallow profile (n ~ 0.4), an effective radius of R_e ~ 6'', and central surface brightnesses of $\mu_{0,g}=27.52\pm0.04$, $\mu_{0,r}=27.62\pm0.07$, and $\mu_{0,i}=27.04\pm0.08$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$. EAZY photo-z fitting favours an intermediate-z solution at z~0.3, while a low-redshift solution at z~0.028, consistent with the NGC 4410 system, is also permitted by a restricted EAZY fit over 0<z<0.1 without imposing a redshift prior. These alternatives imply substantially different physical interpretations, ranging from a diffuse dwarf-like system to an exceptionally extended background LSBG. This discovery demonstrates Rubin's sensitivity to extremely diffuse galaxies and highlights the potential of the LSST survey to uncover large samples of such elusive systems across wide areas, enabling systematic studies of the LSBG population and its role in galaxy evolution.

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Dipanjan Mitra, Kanak Saha, Sugata Kaviraj, Alister W. Graham, Sandro Tacchella, Ricardo Demarco, Dieu D. Nguyen, Elham Saremi, hernandez toledo, hector., Jose Benavides, Natanael M. Cardoso, Samuel Boissier, Dan S. Taranu, Bililign Dullo, Patricia B. Tissera, Matias Blana, Hao Fu, Priyanka Chakraborty, Kevin A. Pimbblet, Tayyaba Zafar, Anirban Dutta, Aidan P Cotter, Darko Donevski, Katarzyna Malek, Rossella Ragusa, Agnieszka Pollo, Unnikrishnan Sureshkumar, Aritra Ghosh, Antonio Vanzanella, Hareesh Thuruthipilly. 2026-09-04. Rubin J122659.4+090236: An Extremely Low Surface Brightness Galaxy Candidate Discovered in the Rubin LSST Early Data Preview 2. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.04967

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