ar X iv : a st ro - p h / 06 12 35 1 v 1 1 3 D ec 2 00 6 A POTENTIAL GALAXY THRESHING SYSTEM IN THE COSMOS FIELD

We report on the discovery of a new potential galaxy threshing system in the COSMOS 2 square degree field using the prime-focus camera, Suprime-Cam, on the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. This system consists of a giant elliptical galaxy with MV ≈ −21.6 and a tidally disrupted satellite galaxy with MV ≈ −17.7 at Based on data collected at Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Astronomical Institute, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai 9808578, Japan Physics Department, Graduate School of Science & Engineering, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan California Institute of Technology, MC 105-24, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 Visiting Astronomer, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI, 96822 Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 Service d’Astrophysique, CEA/Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory, 650 N. A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, BP 8, Traverse du Siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12, France Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Department of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zurich), CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 Max Planck Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, Heidelberg, D-69117, Germany Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125