Formation of dwarf galaxies in tidal tails

The results are reported of numerical simulations of encounters between disk galaxies, each modeled with a central bulge, an exponential disk, and a spheroidal dark-matter halo. It is found that dwarf systems form in material drawn out during the encounter; these objects can capture large amounts of moderately enriched gas but retain little dark matter from their parents' haloes. They should therefore have lower mass-to-light ratios than galaxies formed directly by the collapse of primordial matter.