Tidal Features at 0.05 < z < 0.45 in the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program: Properties and Formation Channels

We present 1201 galaxies at 0.05 < z < 0.45 that host tidal features in the first ∼200 deg² of imaging from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). We select these galaxies from a sample of 21,208 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic campaigns. Of these galaxies, we identify 214 shell systems and 987 stream systems. For 575 of these systems, we are additionally able to measure the (g-i) colors of the tidal features. We find evidence for star formation in a subset of the streams, with the exception of streams around massive ellipticals, and find that stream host galaxies span the full range of stellar masses in our sample. Galaxies that host shells are predominantly red and massive: we find that observable shells form more frequently around ellipticals than around disk galaxies of the same stellar mass. Although the majority of the shells in our sample are consistent with being formed by minor mergers, 15% ±4.4% of shell host galaxies have (g-i) colors as red as their host galaxy, consistent with being formed by major mergers. These "red shell" galaxies are preferentially aligned with the major axis of the host galaxy, as previously predicted from simulations. We suggest that although the bulk of the observable shell population originates from fairly minor mergers, which preferentially form shells that are not aligned with the major axis of the galaxy, major mergers produce a significant number of observable shells.