Simulating the recent star formation history in the halo of NGC 5128

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

16 pages, 10 figures; A&A in press

Scientific paper

10.1051/0004-6361:20034200

Simulated color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) are used to investigate the recent star formation history in NGC 5128. The comparison of the simulations with the observed UV CMD for a field in the NE shell, where recent star formation is present, constrains the initial mass function (IMF) and the duration of the star formation episode. The star formation burst is still on-going or at most has stopped some 2 Myr ago. The look-back time on the main sequence is set by the incompleteness of the U-band observations at V~26, and is of the order of 50 Myr. The post main sequence phases have a look-back time up to 100 Myr, setting the maximum observable time for the star formation in this field. The comparison of the observed and simulated luminosity functions and the number of post main sequence vs. total number of stars favours models with active star formation in the last 100 Myr. The data are best fitted by an IMF with Salpeter slope (\alpha=2.35), and are also consistent with slopes in the range of 2<~\alpha<~2.6. They exclude steeper IMF slopes. The mean star formation rate for a Salpeter IMF in the range of masses 0.6<~M<~100 M_sun within the last 100 Myr is 1.6x10^-4 M_sun yr^-1 kpc^-2.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Simulating the recent star formation history in the halo of NGC 5128 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Simulating the recent star formation history in the halo of NGC 5128, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Simulating the recent star formation history in the halo of NGC 5128 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-299678

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.