A Multi-Band Photometric Study of Tidal Debris in a Compact Group of Galaxies: Seyfert’s Sextet

In order to investigate the properties of the prominent tidal debris featureextending to the northeast of the compact group of galaxies Seyfert's Sextet,we analyzed multi-band (U, B, V, VR, R, I, J, H and K') photometric imagingdata and obtained the following results: 1) The radial surface brightnessdistribution of this tidal debris in Seyfert's Sextet (TDSS) in each bandappears to be well approximated by an exponential profile. 2) The observed B-Vcolor of TDSS is similar to those of dwarf elliptical galaxies in nearbyclusters. 3) Comparing the spectral energy distribution (SED) of TDSS withtheoretical photometric evolution models and with the SED of the stars in theouter part of HCG 79b, we find that its SED is comparable to that of a $\sim$10 Gyr-old stellar population with solar metallicity, similar to the stellarpopulation in the outer part of HCG 79b. This suggests that TDSS consists ofstars that may have been liberated from HCG 79b by strong galaxy interactions,not a pre-existing dwarf galaxy previously thought.Comment: 9 pages, included 6 figures (5 PS files and 6 EPS files), emulateapj LaTeX, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 2002, 54, No.1, in pres