Double nuclei in NGC 908 and NGC 1187
  We analyze optical data cubes of the nuclear regions of two late-type
galaxies, NGC 908 and NGC 1187, obtained with the Integral Field Unit of the
Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph. Both data cubes show stellar structures
consistent with double nuclei. The morphology of the line-emitting areas in the
central region of NGC 1187 is also of a double nucleus, while the spatial
morphology of the line-emitting areas in the data cube of NGC 908 is consistent
with a circumnuclear asymmetric ring. The emission-line ratios of the nuclear
spectra (and, actually, along the entire field of view) of both galaxies are
characteristic of H II regions. In particular, based on its emission-line
properties, the circumnuclear ring in NGC 908 can be identified as a
star-forming ring. The observed spatial morphology of the stellar emission and
also the differences in the properties of the stellar populations detected in
the stellar nuclei of NGC 908 suggest that the most likely scenario to explain
the double stellar nucleus in this object involves a minor merger, probably
with a high mass ratio. On the other hand, considering the similar properties
of the stellar populations in the stellar nuclei of NGC 1187, together with the
stellar and gas kinematic properties, we conclude that the most likely scenario
to explain the double stellar and gas nucleus in this galaxy involves the
stellar and gas kinematics, in the form of a circular nuclear disk subject to
perturbations.
