The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. IV. NGC 4216: A Bombarded
  Spiral in the Virgo Cluster
  We present an investigation into the origins of a series of interlaced narrow
filamentary stellar structures, loops and plumes in the vicinity of the Virgo
Cluster, edge-on spiral galaxy, NGC 4216 that were previously identified by the
Blackbird Telescope. Using the deeper, higher-resolution and precisely
calibrated optical CFHT/MegaCam images obtained as part of the Next Generation
Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS), we confirm the previously identified features and
identify a few additional structures. The NGVS data allowed us to make a
physical study of these low-surface brightness features and investigate their
origin. The likely progenitors of the structures were identified as either
already catalogued VCC dwarfs or newly discovered satellites caught in the act
of being destroyed. They have the same g-i color index and likely contain
similar stellar populations. The alignment of three dwarfs along an apparently
single stream is intriguing, and we cannot totally exclude that these are
second-generation dwarf galaxies being born inside the filament from the debris
of an original dwarf. The observed complex structures, including in particular
a stream apparently emanating from a satellite of a satellite, point to a high
rate of ongoing dwarf destruction/accretion in the region of the Virgo Cluster
where NGC 4216 is located. We discuss the age of the interactions and whether
they occurred in a group that is just falling into the cluster and shows signs
of so-called "pre-processing" before it gets affected by the cluster
environment, or in a group which already ventured towards the central regions
of Virgo Cluster.
