Star Formation and Gas Kinematics in Irregular Galaxies

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

Irregular galaxies are an important setting for the study of star formation and how it propagates, as the gas motions are not dominated by the effects of spiral arms and less affected by rotation. Their star formation rates are in many cases comparable to those of spirals and the HII regions of both groups have similar characteristics. Past studies of non-interacting irregulars have found no convincing correlations between global star formation rates and any single global parameter such as abundance or total gas mass, suggesting that the processes which determine a galaxy's overall star formation rate are events occuring on small scales. We have made detailed measurements of three large irregular systems (NGC 1156, 4214 and 4449) to study their star formation on small and regional scales. Optical and near-infrared images of these galaxies have been taken with the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory 48-inch telescope, to study their stellar populations as a function of position. Longslit spectra at many positions across each galaxy and echelle spectra of the HII regions have been obtained with the Multiple Mirror Telescope. The spectra will be used to map out variations of velocity, excitation and metal abundance of the ionised interstellar medium. We present preliminary results on the ionised gas velocity field and a search for Wolf-Rayet stars.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Star Formation and Gas Kinematics in Irregular Galaxies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Star Formation and Gas Kinematics in Irregular Galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Star Formation and Gas Kinematics in Irregular Galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1111113

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.