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arXiv 1007.3523astro-ph.COastro-ph.GA
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复杂环境中的星系演化:对HCG 7的多波长研究

Galaxy evolution in a complex environment: a multi-wavelength study of HCG 7

I. S. Konstantopoulos, S. C. Gallagher, K. Fedotov, P. R. Durrell, A. Heiderman, D. M. Elmegreen, J. C. Charlton, J. E. Hibbard, P. Tzanavaris, R. Chandar, K. E… 展开作者

I. S. Konstantopoulos, S. C. Gallagher, K. Fedotov, P. R. Durrell, A. Heiderman, D. M. Elmegreen, J. C. Charlton, J. E. Hibbard, P. Tzanavaris, R. Chandar, K. E. Johnson, A. Maybhate, A. E. Zabludoff, C. Gronwall, D. Szathmary, A. E. Hornschemeier, J. English, B. Whitmore, C Mendes de Oliveira, J S Mulchaey

摘要:

[摘要]星系被发现的环境严重影响着它们的演化。像星系团的核心或紧凑的群体这样的紧密群体,其演化方式远比孤立的同类更为戏剧性。我们对HCG 7进行了多波长研究,它由四个巨大的星系组成:3个螺旋星系和1个透镜星系。我们使用哈勃太空望远镜(HST)成像来识别和表征年轻和年老的星团人口。我们发现年轻的大质量星团(YMC)主要在三个螺旋,而透镜状的特点是一个大的,单峰人口的球状星团(GC),但没有检测到的年龄小于~Gyr的集群。因此,~300个YMC和~150个GC的空间和近似年龄分布暗示了在哈勃时间内该组中有规律的恒星形成历史。虽然第一眼看上去HST数据显示星系未受干扰,但我们的深地面宽视场成像扩展了HST覆盖范围,揭示了组内介质中恒星物质的微弱特征。在HI或钱德拉X射线观测中,我们没有检测到组内介质,这些特征预计会从重大合并中产生。我们发现,HI气体含量的个别星系和集团作为一个整体是预期的丰度的三分之一。静止的外观受到光谱学的挑战,光谱学揭示了一个星系核中强烈的电离连续体,以及另一个星系核中的爆发后特征。我们的光谱调查矮星系成员产生一个矮椭圆在一个明显的潮汐功能。因此,我们提出了一个HCG 7的进化方案,即星系将其大部分可用气体转化为恒星,而不进行重大合并,并导致干合并。由于控制致密星系群的条件类似于中等红移的星系,我们认为星系群适合于研究z~1-2的星系演化。

英文摘要:

[Abridged] The environment where galaxies are found heavily influences their evolution. Close groupings, like the cores of galaxy clusters or compact groups, evolve in ways far more dramatic than their isolated counterparts. We have conducted a multiwavelength study of HCG7, consisting of four giant galaxies: 3 spirals and 1 lenticular. We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging to identify and characterize the young and old star cluster populations. We find young massive clusters (YMC) mostly in the three spirals, while the lenticular features a large, unimodal population of globular clusters (GC) but no detectable clusters with ages less than ~Gyr. The spatial and approximate age distributions of the ~300 YMCs and ~150 GCs thus hint at a regular star formation history in the group over a Hubble time. While at first glance the HST data show the galaxies as undisturbed, our deep ground-based, wide-field imaging that extends the HST coverage reveals faint signatures of stellar material in the intra-group medium. We do not detect the intra-group medium in HI or Chandra X-ray observations, signatures that would be expected to arise from major mergers. We find that the HI gas content of the individual galaxies and the group as a whole are a third of the expected abundance. The appearance of quiescence is challenged by spectroscopy that reveals an intense ionization continuum in one galaxy nucleus, and post-burst characteristics in another. Our spectroscopic survey of dwarf galaxy members yields one dwarf elliptical in an apparent tidal feature. We therefore suggest an evolutionary scenario for HCG7, whereby the galaxies convert most of their available gas into stars without major mergers and result in a dry merger. As the conditions governing compact groups are reminiscent of galaxies at intermediate redshift, we propose that HCGs are appropriate for studying galaxy evolution at z~1-2.

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