We have searched for compact stellar structures within 17 tidal tails in 13 different interacting galaxies using F606W- and F814W-band images from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble ...Space Telescope. The sample of tidal tails includes a diverse population of optical properties, merging galaxy mass ratios, H I content, and ages. Combining our tail sample with Knierman et al., we find evidence of star clusters formed in situ with M V < --8.5 and V -- I < 2.0 in 10 of 23 tidal tails; we are able to identify cluster candidates to M V = --6.5 in the closest tails. Three tails offer clear examples of 'beads on a string' star formation morphology in V -- I color maps. Two tails present both tidal dwarf galaxy candidates and cluster candidates. Statistical diagnostics indicate that clusters in tidal tails may be drawn from the same power-law luminosity functions (with logarithmic slopes --2 to --2.5) found in quiescent spiral galaxies and interiors of interacting systems. We find that the tail regions with the largest number of observable clusters are relatively young (250 Myr old) and bright (V 24 mag arcsec--2), probably attributed to the strong bursts of star formation in interacting systems soon after periapse. Otherwise, we find no statistical difference between cluster-rich and cluster-poor tails in terms of many observable characteristics, though this analysis suffers from complex, unresolved gas dynamics and projection effects.
Using archival data from ATCA, WHISP, and the Very Large Array, we have analyzed the H I emission of 22 tidal tail regions of the Mullan et al. sample of pairwise interacting galaxies. We have ...measured the column densities, line-of-sight velocity dispersions, and kinetic energy densities on ~kpc scales. We also constructed a tracer of the line-of-sight velocity gradient over ~10 kpc scales. We compared the distributions of these properties between regions that do and do not contain massive star cluster candidates (MV < -8.5; ~10 super(4)-10 super(6) M sub(middot in circle) as observed in Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 VI data). In agreement with Maybhate et al., we find that a local, ~kpc-scale column density of log N sub(H I) > 20.6 cm super(-2) is frequently required for detecting clustered star formation. This H I gas also tends to be turbulent, with line-of-sight velocity dispersions sigma sub(los) approximate 10-75 km s super(-1), implying high kinetic energy densities (log capital sigma sub(KE) > 46 erg pc super(-2)). Thus, high H I densities and pressures, partly determined by the tail dynamical age and other interaction characteristics, are connected to large-scale cluster formation in tidal tails overall. Last, we find that the high mechanical energy densities of the gas are likely not generally due to feedback from star formation. Rather, these properties are more likely to be a cause of star formation than a result.
Minor mergers play a crucial role in galaxy evolution. UGC 10214 (the Tadpole galaxy) is a prime example of this process in which a dwarf galaxy has interacted with a large spiral galaxy ∼250 Myr ago ...and produced a perturbed disc and a giant tidal tail. We used a multi-wavelength dataset that partly consists of new observations (Hα, HI, and CO) and partly of archival data to study the present and past star formation rate (SFR) and its relation to the gas and stellar mass at a spatial resolution down to 4 kpc. UGC 10214 is a high-mass (stellar mass M⋆ = 1.28 × 1011 M⊙) galaxy with a low gas fraction (Mgas/M⋆ = 0.24), a high molecular gas fraction (MH2/MHI = 0.4), and a modest SFR (2–5 M⊙ yr−1). The global SFR compared to its stellar mass places UGC 10214 on the galaxy main sequence (MS). The comparison of the molecular gas mass and current SFR gives a molecular gas depletion time of about ∼2 Gyr (based on Hα), comparable to those of normal spiral galaxies. Both from a comparison of the Hα emission, tracing the current SFR, and far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission, tracing the recent SFR during the past tens of Myr, and also from spectral energy distribution fitting with CIGALE, we find that the SFR has increased by a factor of about 2–3 during the recent past. This increase is particularly noticeable in the centre of the galaxy where a pronounced peak of the Hα emission is visible. A pixel-to-pixel comparison of the SFR, molecular gas mass, and stellar mass shows that the central region has had a depressed FUV-traced SFR compared to the molecular gas and the stellar mass, whereas the Hα-traced SFR shows a normal level. The atomic and molecular gas distribution is asymmetric, but the position-velocity diagram along the major axis shows a pattern of regular rotation. We conclude that the minor merger has most likely caused variations in the SFR in the past that resulted in a moderate increase of the SFR, but it has not perturbed the gas significantly so that the molecular depletion time remains normal.
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.
Using archival data from ATCA, WSRT, and the VLA, we have analyzed the HI emission of 22 tidal tail regions of the Mullan et al. sample of pairwise interacting galaxies. We have measured the column ...densities, line-of-sight velocity dispersions, and kinetic energy densities on ~kpc scales. We also constructed a tracer of the line-of-sight velocity gradient over ~10 kpc scales. We compared the distributions of these properties between regions that do and do not contain massive star cluster candidates (M_V < -8.5; ~10^4--10^6 M_(sun) as observed in HST WFPC2 VI data). In agreement with Maybhate et al., we find that a local, ~kpc-scale column density of log N_(HI) = 20.6 cm^(-2) is frequently required for detecting clustered star formation. This HI gas also tends to be turbulent, with line-of-sight velocity dispersions ~10--75 km/s, implying high kinetic energy densities (>46 erg pc^(-2)). Thus, high HI densities and pressures, partly determined by the tail dynamical age and other interaction characteristics, are connected to large-scale cluster formation in tidal tails overall. Lastly, we find that the high mechanical energy densities of the gas are likely not generally due to feedback from star formation. Rather, these properties are more likely to be a cause of star formation than a result.
We have searched for compact stellar structures within 17 tidal tails in 13 different interacting galaxies using F606W- and F814W- band images from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the ...Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The sample of tidal tails includes a diverse population of optical properties, merging galaxy mass ratios, HI content, and ages. Combining our tail sample with Knierman et al. (2003), we find evidence of star clusters formed in situ with Mv < -8.5 and V-I < 2.0 in 10 of 23 tidal tails; we are able to identify cluster candidates to Mv = -6.5 in the closest tails. Three tails offer clear examples of "beads on a string" star formation morphology in V-I color maps. Two tails present both tidal dwarf galaxy (TDG) candidates and cluster candidates. Statistical diagnostics indicate that clusters in tidal tails may be drawn from the same power-law luminosity functions (with logarithmic slopes ~ -2 - -2.5) found in quiescent spiral galaxies and the interiors of interacting systems. We find that the tail regions with the largest number of observable clusters are relatively young (< 250 Myr old) and bright (V < 24 mag arcsec^(-2)), probably attributed to the strong bursts of star formation in interacting systems soon after periapse. Otherwise, we find no statistical difference between cluster-rich and cluster-poor tails in terms of many observable characteristics, though this analysis suffers from complex, unresolved gas dynamics and projection effects.
We have used V- and I- band images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to identify compact stellar clusters within the tidal tails of twelve different interacting galaxies. The seventeen tails ...within our sample span a physical parameter space of HI/stellar masses, tail pressure and density through their diversity of tail lengths, optical brightnesses, mass ratios, HI column densities, stage on the Toomre sequence, and tail kinematics. Our preliminary findings in this study indicate that star cluster demographics of the tidal tail environment are compatible with the current understanding of star cluster formation in quiescent systems, possibly only needing changes in certain parameters or normalization of the Schechter cluster initial mass function (CIMF) to replicate what we observe in color-magnitude diagrams and a brightest absolute magnitude -- log N plot.
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