Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...21112202d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #122.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.951
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We use multi-wavelength data to search for signatures of recent star formation in the vicinity of the group composed by M81, M82, and NGC 3077. This triple system has shown an extremely disturbed HI distribution with tidal bridges connecting the three galaxies. We identify eight FUV/NUV sources from GALEX archival images which are within the HI bridge between M81 and M82, known as Arp's loop and located 17 kpc from M81. We obtained WIYN 3.5m/Halpha data and retrieved HST/ACS archival data to study their properties. Four of these objects are detected in Halpha and six are resolved in the ACS F475W and F814W images. We find both a young (< 10 Myr) and an old (>1; Gyr) stellar population with a similar spatial distribution and a metallicity Z 0.004. We suggest that the old stellar population was formed in the stellar disk of M82 and/or M81 and ejected into the intergalactic medium during a tidal passage ( 200-300 Myr ago), whereas the young UV-bright stars have formed in the tidal debris. The UV luminosities of the eight objects are modest and typical of small clusters or OB associations. The tidal bridge between M81-M82 therefore appears to be intermediate between the very low levels of star formation seen in the Magellanic bridge and actively star-forming tidal tails associated with major galaxy mergers
de Mello Duilia F.
Gallagher Jay S.
Harbeck Daniel-Rolf
Mountain Matt
Sabbi Elena
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