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Title: ULTRAVIOLET+INFRARED STAR FORMATION RATES: HICKSON COMPACT GROUPS WITH SWIFT AND SPITZER

Abstract

We present Swift UVOT ultraviolet (UV; 1600-3000 A) data with complete three-band UV photometry for a sample of 41 galaxies in 11 nearby (<4500 km s{sup -1}) Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) of galaxies. We use UVOT uvw2-band (2000 A) photometry to estimate the dust-unobscured component, SFR{sub UV}, of the total star formation rate, SFR{sub TOTAL}. We use Spitzer MIPS 24 {mu}m photometry to estimate SFR{sub IR}, the component of SFR{sub TOTAL} that suffers dust extinction in the UV and is re-emitted in the IR. By combining the two components, we obtain SFR{sub TOTAL} estimates for all HCG galaxies. We obtain total stellar mass, M {sub *}, estimates by means of Two Micron All Sky Survey K{sub s} -band luminosities, and use them to calculate specific star formation rates, SSFR {identical_to} SFR{sub TOTAL}/M {sub *}. SSFR values show a clear and significant bimodality, with a gap between low ({approx}<3.2 x 10{sup -11} yr{sup -1}) and high-SSFR ({approx_gt}1.2 x 10{sup -10} yr{sup -1}) systems. We compare this bimodality to the previously discovered bimodality in {alpha}{sub IRAC}, the MIR activity index from a power-law fit to the Spitzer IRAC 4.5-8 {mu}m data for these galaxies. We find that all galaxies with {alpha}{sub IRAC}more » {<=} 0 ( >0) are in the high- (low-) SSFR locus, as expected if high levels of star-forming activity power MIR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules and a hot dust continuum. Consistent with this finding, all elliptical/S0 galaxies are in the low-SSFR locus, while 22 out of 24 spirals/irregulars are in the high-SSFR locus, with two borderline cases. We further divide our sample into three subsamples (I, II, and III) according to decreasing H I richness of the parent galaxy group to which a galaxy belongs. Consistent with the SSFR and {alpha}{sub IRAC} bimodality, 12 out of 15 type I (11 out of 12 type III) galaxies are in the high- (low-) SSFR locus, while type II galaxies span almost the full range of SSFR values. We use the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey (SINGS) to construct a comparison subsample of galaxies that (1) match HCG galaxies in J-band total galaxy luminosity and (2) are not strongly interacting and largely isolated. This selection eliminates mostly low-luminosity dwarfs and galaxies with some degree of peculiarity, providing a substantially improved, quiescent control sample. Unlike HCG galaxies, galaxies in the comparison SINGS subsample are continuously distributed both in SSFR and {alpha}{sub IRAC}, although they show ranges in SFR{sub TOTAL} values, morphologies and stellar masses similar to those for HCG systems. We test the SSFR bimodality against a number of uncertainties, and find that these can only lead to its further enhancement. Excluding galaxies belonging to HCGs with three giant galaxies (triplets) leaves both the SSFR and the {alpha}{sub IRAC} bimodality completely unaffected. We interpret these results as further evidence that an environment characterized by high galaxy number densities and low galaxy velocity dispersions, such as the one found in compact groups, plays a key role in accelerating galaxy evolution by enhancing star formation processes in galaxies and favoring a fast transition to quiescence.« less

Authors:
; ;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]; ; ;  [4]
  1. Laboratory for X-ray Astrophysics, NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center, Mail Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7 (Canada)
  3. Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)
  4. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21451132
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 716; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/716/1/556; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; DUSTS; GALACTIC EVOLUTION; GALAXIES; LUMINOSITY; PHOTOMETRY; POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS; STARS; ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION; AROMATICS; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; EVOLUTION; HYDROCARBONS; OPTICAL PROPERTIES; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; RADIATIONS

Citation Formats

Tzanavaris, P, Hornschemeier, A E, Immler, S, Gallagher, S C, Johnson, K E, Reines, A E, Gronwall, C, Hoversten, E, and Charlton, J C. ULTRAVIOLET+INFRARED STAR FORMATION RATES: HICKSON COMPACT GROUPS WITH SWIFT AND SPITZER. United States: N. p., 2010. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/716/1/556.
Tzanavaris, P, Hornschemeier, A E, Immler, S, Gallagher, S C, Johnson, K E, Reines, A E, Gronwall, C, Hoversten, E, & Charlton, J C. ULTRAVIOLET+INFRARED STAR FORMATION RATES: HICKSON COMPACT GROUPS WITH SWIFT AND SPITZER. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/716/1/556
Tzanavaris, P, Hornschemeier, A E, Immler, S, Gallagher, S C, Johnson, K E, Reines, A E, Gronwall, C, Hoversten, E, and Charlton, J C. 2010. "ULTRAVIOLET+INFRARED STAR FORMATION RATES: HICKSON COMPACT GROUPS WITH SWIFT AND SPITZER". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/716/1/556.
@article{osti_21451132,
title = {ULTRAVIOLET+INFRARED STAR FORMATION RATES: HICKSON COMPACT GROUPS WITH SWIFT AND SPITZER},
author = {Tzanavaris, P and Hornschemeier, A E and Immler, S and Gallagher, S C and Johnson, K E and Reines, A E and Gronwall, C and Hoversten, E and Charlton, J C},
abstractNote = {We present Swift UVOT ultraviolet (UV; 1600-3000 A) data with complete three-band UV photometry for a sample of 41 galaxies in 11 nearby (<4500 km s{sup -1}) Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) of galaxies. We use UVOT uvw2-band (2000 A) photometry to estimate the dust-unobscured component, SFR{sub UV}, of the total star formation rate, SFR{sub TOTAL}. We use Spitzer MIPS 24 {mu}m photometry to estimate SFR{sub IR}, the component of SFR{sub TOTAL} that suffers dust extinction in the UV and is re-emitted in the IR. By combining the two components, we obtain SFR{sub TOTAL} estimates for all HCG galaxies. We obtain total stellar mass, M {sub *}, estimates by means of Two Micron All Sky Survey K{sub s} -band luminosities, and use them to calculate specific star formation rates, SSFR {identical_to} SFR{sub TOTAL}/M {sub *}. SSFR values show a clear and significant bimodality, with a gap between low ({approx}<3.2 x 10{sup -11} yr{sup -1}) and high-SSFR ({approx_gt}1.2 x 10{sup -10} yr{sup -1}) systems. We compare this bimodality to the previously discovered bimodality in {alpha}{sub IRAC}, the MIR activity index from a power-law fit to the Spitzer IRAC 4.5-8 {mu}m data for these galaxies. We find that all galaxies with {alpha}{sub IRAC} {<=} 0 ( >0) are in the high- (low-) SSFR locus, as expected if high levels of star-forming activity power MIR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules and a hot dust continuum. Consistent with this finding, all elliptical/S0 galaxies are in the low-SSFR locus, while 22 out of 24 spirals/irregulars are in the high-SSFR locus, with two borderline cases. We further divide our sample into three subsamples (I, II, and III) according to decreasing H I richness of the parent galaxy group to which a galaxy belongs. Consistent with the SSFR and {alpha}{sub IRAC} bimodality, 12 out of 15 type I (11 out of 12 type III) galaxies are in the high- (low-) SSFR locus, while type II galaxies span almost the full range of SSFR values. We use the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey (SINGS) to construct a comparison subsample of galaxies that (1) match HCG galaxies in J-band total galaxy luminosity and (2) are not strongly interacting and largely isolated. This selection eliminates mostly low-luminosity dwarfs and galaxies with some degree of peculiarity, providing a substantially improved, quiescent control sample. Unlike HCG galaxies, galaxies in the comparison SINGS subsample are continuously distributed both in SSFR and {alpha}{sub IRAC}, although they show ranges in SFR{sub TOTAL} values, morphologies and stellar masses similar to those for HCG systems. We test the SSFR bimodality against a number of uncertainties, and find that these can only lead to its further enhancement. Excluding galaxies belonging to HCGs with three giant galaxies (triplets) leaves both the SSFR and the {alpha}{sub IRAC} bimodality completely unaffected. We interpret these results as further evidence that an environment characterized by high galaxy number densities and low galaxy velocity dispersions, such as the one found in compact groups, plays a key role in accelerating galaxy evolution by enhancing star formation processes in galaxies and favoring a fast transition to quiescence.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/716/1/556},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21451132}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 716,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2010},
month = {Thu Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2010}
}