Near-Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy of IC 342: Evolution of a Bar-Driven Central Starburst

Details Near-Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy of IC 342: Evolution of a Bar-Driven Central Starburst Near-Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy of IC 342: Evolution of a Bar-Driven Central Starburst

Nov 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997aj....114.1883b&link_type=abstract

Astronomical Journal v.114, p.1883

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

56

Infrared: Galaxies, Galaxies: Spiral, Galaxies: Starburst

Scientific paper

We report on recent near-infrared (MR) observations of the central 12" (110 pc) of the nearby late-type spiral IC 342. The data reveal in detail the complex dynamical processes in the nucleus of IC 342. The NIR continuum emission is dominated by a cluster of young (l07 yr) and massive (12-18 Msun) supergiants in the dynamical center of IC 342. It is surrounded by a ring of molecular gas with a diameter of 70 pc, as delineated by maps of the NIR emission lines. Intense star formation takes place in two bright H II region complexes east and west of the nucleus, the properties of the brightest one being similar to other super clusters like 30 Dor in the LMC. The isophotes of the central cluster in IC 342 show a bar-like elongation with an axis ratio of about 1.25 on a scale of at least 110 pc. Our data, combined with evolutionary models, show that the H ii complexes in the ring have an age of ≍5 Myr, indicating inside-out propagation of star formation. We therefore interpret the ring as an inner Lindblad resonance (ILR), the response of the gaseous matter to the non-axisymmetric potential of the central cluster. With this in mind, we propose a likely scenario for the evolutionary processes that led to the observed morphology.

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