Applying galactic archeology to massive galaxies using deep imaging
  surveys
  Various programs aimed at exploring the still largely unknown low surface
brightness Universe with deep imaging optical surveys have recently started.
They open a new window for studies of galaxy evolution, pushing the technique
of galactic archeology outside the Local Group (LG). The method, based on the
detection and analysis of the diffuse light emitted by collisional debris or
extended stellar halos (rather than on stellar counts as done for LG systems),
faces however a number of technical difficulties, like the contamination of the
images by reflection halos and Galactic cirrus. I review here the on-going
efforts to address them and highlight the preliminary promising results
obtained with a systematic survey with MegaCam on the CFHT of nearby massive
early-type galaxies done as part of the Atlas3D, NGVS and MATLAS
collaborations.
