We analyze the optical counterpart to the ultra-compact high velocity cloud AGC 226067 , utilizing imaging taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys ( ACS ) on the Hubble Space Telescope .
The color magnitude diagram of the main body of AGC 226067 reveals an exclusively young stellar population , with an age of \sim 7–50 Myr , and is consistent with a metallicity of [ Fe/H ] \sim - 0.3 as previous work has measured via HII region spectroscopy .
Additionally , the color magnitude diagram is consistent with a distance of D \approx 17 Mpc , suggesting an association with the Virgo cluster .
A secondary stellar system located \sim 1.6 ’ ( \sim 8 kpc ) away in projection has a similar stellar population .
The lack of an old red giant branch ( \gtrsim 5 Gyr ) is contrasted with a serendipitously discovered Virgo dwarf in the ACS field of view ( Dw J122147+132853 ) , and the total diffuse light from AGC 226067 is consistent with the luminosity function of the resolved \sim 7–50 Myr stellar population .
The main body of AGC 226067 has a M _ { V } = - 11.3 \pm 0.3 , or M _ { stars } =5.4 \pm 1.3 \times 10 ^ { 4 } M _ { \odot } given the stellar population .
We searched 20 deg ^ { 2 } of imaging data adjacent to AGC 226067 in the Virgo Cluster , and found two similar stellar systems dominated by a blue stellar population , far from any massive galaxy counterpart – if this population has similar star formation properties as AGC 226067 , it implies \sim 0.1 M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } in Virgo intracluster star formation .
Given its unusual stellar population , AGC 226067 is likely a stripped remnant and is plausibly the result of compressed gas from the ram pressure stripped M86 subgroup ( \sim 350 kpc away in projection ) as it falls into the Virgo Cluster .