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M. Kohring (UVA), J.E. Hibbard (NRAO), J.E. Barnes (IfA)
Theoretical work (Barnes & Hernquist 1992) suggests that dwarf galaxies may form within the tidal tails of interacting disk galaxies. Recent observational work purports to identify several so-called "Tidal Dwarf Galaxies" (TDGs) within tidal debris. However, the observational evidence that these TDGs are distinct, dynamical entities is circumstantial or non-existant. N-body simulations of colliding disk galaxies were run and gravitationally bound clumps were identified in the tidal tails. The N-body results are converted to simulated observations (moment maps) and "observable" quantities such as the half-light radius, surface brightness and velocity dispersion are extracted from the clumps. From these, we calculate an "observed" mass and compare it to the true mass of the clumps. We explore whether self-gravitating regions within the tail distinguish themselves from other regions in terms of these observational quantities.