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arXiv 1102.2929astro-ph.CO
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干合并的污点

The Dirt on Dry Mergers

Vandana Desai, Arjun Dey, Emma Cohen, Emeric Le Floc'h, B. T. Soifer

摘要:

使用斯皮策太空望远镜的数据,我们分析了中红外(3-70微米)光谱能量分布的干合并候选人在Bootes领域的NOAO深宽视场调查。这些候选者被以前的作者选择为明亮的,红色的,早期类型的星系与最近的潮汐相互作用的形态证据。我们发现,这些候选人的一个显着的部分表现出8和24微米相比,老恒星星族的预期过剩。我们估计,四分之一的干合并候选者的中红外衍生恒星形成率大于1 MSun/yr。这代表着在一个巨大的古老恒星星族顶部的“结霜”,并且在以前的椭圆星系研究中已经看到。此外,干合并的候选人包括一个更高比例的恒星形成星系相对于控制样本没有潮汐功能。因此,我们的结论是,在这些大规模的椭圆星系的恒星形成很可能是由合并活动引发的。我们的数据表明,负责所观察到的潮汐特征的合并并不完全干燥,可能是涉及富含气体的矮星系的轻微合并。

英文摘要:

Using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, we analyze the mid-infrared (3-70 micron) spectral energy distributions of dry merger candidates in the Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. These candidates were selected by previous authors to be luminous, red, early-type galaxies with morphological evidence of recent tidal interactions. We find that a significant fraction of these candidates exhibit 8 and 24 micron excesses compared to expectations for old stellar populations. We estimate that a quarter of dry merger candidates have mid-infrared-derived star formation rates greater than ~1 MSun/yr. This represents a "frosting" on top of a large old stellar population, and has been seen in previous studies of elliptical galaxies. Further, the dry merger candidates include a higher fraction of starforming galaxies relative to a control sample without tidal features. We therefore conclude that the star formation in these massive ellipticals is likely triggered by merger activity. Our data suggest that the mergers responsible for the observed tidal features were not completely dry, and may be minor mergers involving a gas-rich dwarf galaxy.

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