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arXiv 0707.3582astro-ph
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潮汐碎屑中恒星团簇形成的HI阈值

An HI Threshold for Star Cluster Formation in Tidal Debris

A. Maybhate, J. Masiero, J. E. Hibbard, J. C. Charlton, C. Palma, K. A. Knierman, J. English

摘要:

超级星团是在相互作用星系的中心区域发现的年轻、紧凑的星团。最近,他们也被报道优先形成在某些潮汐尾巴,但不是在其他人。本文利用21 cm HI图和哈勃空间望远镜宽视场行星照相机2拍摄的4对合并星系的8个潮汐尾区的图像,比较了千秒差距尺度HI分布与光学图像中发现的超级星团的位置。对于大多数尾部,我们发现随着投影HI柱密度的增加,超星团密度增加,当log N(HI)>= 20.6 cm^{-2}时,星团密度最高,但在较低的HI柱密度下,与背景计数率相等。然而,对于两个尾巴(NGC 4038/39 Pos A和NGC 3921),尽管存在高柱密度的气体,但没有显着的星团人口。这意味着N(HI)阈值是形成团簇形成的必要条件而不是充分条件。气体体积密度可能为团簇形成提供更直接的标准,并且诸如气体压力或遭遇强度的其他因素也可能具有影响。不同类型的恒星结构的形成所需的HI阈值的比较,等待更高的分辨率HI和光学观测大量的相互作用的星系。

英文摘要:

Super star clusters are young, compact star clusters found in the central regions of interacting galaxies. Recently, they have also been reported to preferentially form in certain tidal tails, but not in others. In this paper, we have used 21 cm HI maps and the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images of eight tidal tail regions of four merging galaxy pairs to compare the kiloparsec scale HI distribution with the location of super star clusters found from the optical images. For most of the tails, we find that there is an increase in super star cluster density with increasing projected HI column density, such that the star cluster density is highest when log N(HI) >= 20.6 cm^{-2}, but equal to the background count rate at lower HI column density. However, for two tails (NGC 4038/39 Pos A and NGC 3921), there is no significant star cluster population despite the presence of gas at high column density. This implies that the N(HI) threshold is a necessary but not sufficient condition for cluster formation. Gas volume density is likely to provide a more direct criterion for cluster formation, and other factors such as gas pressure or strength of encounter may also have an influence. Comparison of HI thresholds needed for formation of different types of stellar structures await higher resolution HI and optical observations of larger numbers of interacting galaxies.

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