Constraining the age of the NGC 4565 H I disk WARP: Determining the origin of gas WARPS
- Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
- Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
- Raytheon, 1151 East Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States)
- European Space Agency, ESTEC, 2200 AG Noordwijk (Netherlands)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (United States)
We have mapped the distribution of young and old stars in the gaseous H I warp of NGC 4565. We find a clear correlation of young stars (<600 Myr) with the warp but no coincident old stars (>1 Gyr), which places an upper limit on the age of the structure. The formation rate of the young stars, which increased ∼300 Myr ago relative to the surrounding regions, is (6.3{sub −1.5}{sup +2.5})×10{sup −5} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1} kpc{sup –2}. This implies a ∼60 ± 20 Gyr depletion time of the H I warp, similar to the timescales calculated for the outer H I disks of nearby spiral galaxies. While some stars associated with the warp fall into the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) region of the color-magnitude diagram, where stars could be as old as 1 Gyr, further investigation suggests that they may be interlopers rather than real AGB stars. We discuss the implications of these age constraints for the formation of H I warps and the gas fueling of disk galaxies.
- OSTI ID:
- 22348279
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 780, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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