New photometric investigation of the double ringed galaxy ESO474-G26.
  Unveiling the formation scenario
  We present a detailed photometric study of the peculiar double ringed galaxy
ESO474-G26. Near-Infrared (NIR) and optical data have been used, with the main
goal to constrain the formation history of ESO474-G26. NIR photometry is
fundamental in this kind of study, because gives better constraints on the
Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) and well traces the older stellar population
of the galaxy. This galaxy presents a very complex structure, with two almost
orthogonal rings, one in the equatorial and another in the polar plane, around
an elliptical-like object. Due to the peculiar morphology of ESO474-G26, we
used both NIR images (J and K bands) to derive accurate analysis of the stellar
light distribution, and optical images (in the B, V and R bands) to derive
color profiles and color maps to study the structure of the rings. The
observational characteristic of ESO474-G26 are typical of galaxies which have
experienced some kind of interactions during their evolution. We investigated
two alternatives: a merging process and an accretion event.
