NGC 4314 - a Galaxy Dynamicist's Playground

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Every morphological feature of NGC 4314 (see http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1998/21/ ) is a consequence of stellar or gas dynamics. Past studies have presented photometric evidence for a number of Lindblad Resonances (Benedict et al. 1992. AJ, 103, 757) and have established the dynamics of molecular gas associated with a 20 arcsec diameter nuclear ring (Benedict, Smith, & Kenney 1996, AJ, 112, 1318). Present day star formation is found nowhere but in this ring. UBVIH-alpha photometry with Hubble Space Telescope WFPC-2 has provided a means to estimate the ages of star clusters associated with the nuclear ring and for two fainter blue arcs just exterior to the ring. Our chronology suggests that the present epoch of star formation has lasted 20My and that the arcs derive from a similar episode that occurred 150My ago. We still lack a satisfactory explanation for the shape and placement of the blue arcs. Future studies (dynamical modeling and integral field spectroscopy of H-alpha emission) may allow us to distinguish between a shrinking ring and spiral pattern driven by a nuclear bar. Benedict thanks the HST Astrometry Science Team (W. H. Jefferys, P.I., O. G. Franz, W. van Altena, R. Duncombe, P. J. Shelus, L. W. Fredrick, and P. D. Hemenway) for their support and encouragement. This research was supported by NASA Grant NAG5-1603 from Goddard Spaceflight Center.

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