The Central Starburst and Young Stellar Clusters in the ULIRG IRAS 17208-0014

Details The Central Starburst and Young Stellar Clusters in the ULIRG IRAS 17208-0014 The Central Starburst and Young Stellar Clusters in the ULIRG IRAS 17208-0014

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001aas...199.4907r&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, 199th AAS Meeting, #49.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 33, p.1373

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The study of starburst and AGN phenomena is central to determining the powering mechanisms of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Of particular interest is IRAS 17208-0014, a ULIRG which has a very high infrared luminosity (> 1012 Lsun) , shows evidence of being primarily powered by star formation, and appears to be in a dynamically interesting merger phase. We present a study of the circumnuclear activity, stellar populations, and evolutionary phase of IRAS 17208 based on multi-wavelength data including OVRO high resolution (1.0''x 0.7'') CO (2-1) observations, near-infrared NICMOS images, optical broadband and Hα images, and Keck optical spectra. Extended optical tidal tails suggest IRAS 17208 is a merger of two high angular momentum systems. The merger may be advanced as the inner 10 kpc shows an r1/4 light profile typical of ellipticals, and NICMOS images reveal only one nucleus. A massive (several 1010 Msun) disk of cold molecular gas undergoing vigorous star formation appears to be powering the luminosity in the inner few kpc. We derive the circumnuclear star formation rate using radio continuum, far-infrared, and optical tracers. We also estimate the ages, masses, and extinction of the very bright compact stellar clusters, revealed by NICMOS images in the inner kpc region. These are reminiscent of super star clusters found in nearby starbursts and are postulated to be proto globular systems.

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