A Close-Up View of a Merger System: Molecular Gas and Star Formation in the Antennae (NGC 4038/39)

Details A Close-Up View of a Merger System: Molecular Gas and Star Formation in the Antennae (NGC 4038/39) A Close-Up View of a Merger System: Molecular Gas and Star Formation in the Antennae (NGC 4038/39)

Oct 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999alma.confe..73w&link_type=abstract

Science with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), Associated Universities, Inc., held October 6-8, 1999 at Carnegie Instit

Physics

Spiral Galaxies, Star Formation, Clusters, Molecular Gas, Luminous

Scientific paper

As the closest example of a merger of two massive spiral galaxies, the Antennae system (NGC 4038/39) offers a unique opportunity to study the physical and dynamical properties of the interstellar medium in an active merger system. The Antennae have one of the largest populations of luminous star clusters known (Whitmore & Schweizer 1995), while ISO observations have revealed luminous regions of massive star formation that are completely invisible at optical wavelengths (Vigroux et al. 1996; Mirabel et al. 1998). Studying the properties of the molecular gas out of which these star clusters formed is important for understanding the triggering of intense star formation in galaxy mergers. We have observed the CO emission in the Antennae using the Caltech Millimeter Array. These data reveal extremely massive concentrations of molecular gas (> 108 MSun ), a chaotic velocity field, and evidence for cloud collisions near the strongest mid-infrared peak. It seems likely that the formation of the luminous star clusters takes place in these massive gas concentrations, while cloud-cloud collisions may provide an explanation for the unusually strong 15 mu m peak seen with ISO. Mirabel, I. F. et al. 1998, A&A, 333, L1 Vigroux, L. et al. 1996, A&A, 315, L93 Whitmore, B. C. & Schweizer, F. 1995, AJ, 109, 960

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