Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-10-22
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
45 pages incl. 4 tables and 12 (mostly color) figures. Accepted for publication in AJ. A version with full resolution figures
Scientific paper
10.1088/0004-6256/135/2/479
We present near-infrared (H- and K-band) integral-field observations of the circumnuclear star formation rings in five nearby spiral galaxies. The data, obtained at the Very Large Telescope with the SINFONI spectrograph, are used to construct maps of various emission lines that reveal the individual star forming regions ("hot spots") delineating the rings. We derive the morphological parameters of the rings, and construct velocity fields of the stars and the emission line gas. We propose a qualitative, but robust, diagnostic for relative hot spot ages based on the intensity ratios of the emission lines Brackett gamma, HeI, and [FeII]. Application of this diagnostic to the data presented here provides tentative support for a scenario in which star formation in the rings is triggered predominantly at two well-defined regions close to, and downstream from, the intersection of dust lanes along the bar with the inner Lindblad resonance.
Böker Torsten
Falcón-Barroso Jesus
Knapen Johan H.
Ryder Stuart
Schinnerer Eva
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