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arXiv 0912.2629astro-ph.CO
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小合并产生的早型星系的复合恒星形成历史:WFC3的前景

Composite star formation histories of early-type galaxies from minor mergers: prospects for WFC3

S. Peirani, R. M. Crockett, S. Geen, S. Khochfar, S. Kaviraj, J. Silk

摘要:

通过数值模拟研究了邻近早型星系的恒星形成历史。理想化的流体动力学N体模拟与恒星形成处方被用来研究一个巨大的星系(主机)和一个质量较小的螺旋星系(卫星)合并的年龄和合并的祖先的金属丰度合理的假设之间的轻微合并过程。我们发现,恒星形成率的演变是延长了几个动力学的时间,并显示出对应于近心点通道的卫星的峰值。新形成的恒星主要位于卫星残骸的中心部分,而初始盘的较老恒星则沉积在较大半径的壳状结构中。在卫星最后一次坠落后,残骸中心部分的恒星形成可以持续几个陀螺,这取决于恒星形成的效率。虽然新恒星的质量分数很小,但我们发现在V和H波段,半质量半径与半光半径不同。此外,使用哈勃空间望远镜(HST)上的宽视场相机3(WFC 3)的特征滤波器在J,H,NUV,Hb和V波段合成的2D图像显示,在最后一次俯冲期间和之后,特别是在NUV波段,可以清楚地观察到由富含气体的小合并引起的残余恒星形成。对于(z<0.023)处的相互作用系统,在中等数量的轨道上(~2个轨道对应于~3600秒的典型暴露时间)。这表明WFC 3有可能解决这些子结构,描述过去可能的合并事件,并为早期星系的形成提供线索。

英文摘要:

The star formation history of nearby early-type galaxies is investigated via numerical modelling. Idealized hydrodynamical N-body simulations with a star formation prescription are used to study the minor merger process between a giant galaxy (host) and a less massive spiral galaxy (satellite) with reasonable assumptions for the ages and metallicities of the merger progenitors. We find that the evolution of the star formation rate is extended over several dynamical times and shows peaks which correspond to pericentre passages of the satellite. The newly formed stars are mainly located in the central part of the satellite remnant while the older stars of the initial disk are deposited at larger radii in shell-like structures. After the final plunge of the satellite, star formation in the central part of the remnant can continue for several Gyrs depending on the star formation efficiency. Although the mass fraction in new stars is small, we find that the half-mass radius differs from the half-light radius in the V and H bands. Moreover synthetic 2D images in J, H, NUV, Hb and V bands, using the characteristic filters of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), reveal that residual star formation induced by gas-rich minor mergers can be clearly observed during and after the final plunge, especially in the NUV band, for interacting systems at (z<0.023) over moderate numbers of orbits (~2 orbits correspond to typical exposure times of ~3600 sec). This suggests that WFC3 has the potential to resolve these substructures, characterize plausible past merger episodes, and give clues to the formation of early-type galaxies.

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