GEMINI SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF YOUNG STAR CLUSTERS IN MERGING/INTERACTING GALAXIES. IV. STEPHAN's QUINTET

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/748/2/102· OSTI ID:22016103

Trancho, Gelys ^[1]; Konstantopoulos, Iraklis S; Mullan, Brendan; Charlton, Jane C ^[2]; Bastian, Nate ^[3]; Fedotov, Konstantin; Gallagher, Sarah ^[4]

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1. Gemini Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena (Chile)
2. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
3. Excellence Cluster Universe, Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching (Germany)
4. Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7 (Canada)

We present a spectroscopic survey of 21 young massive clusters and complexes and one tidal dwarf galaxy (TDG) candidate in Stephan's Quintet, an interacting compact group of galaxies. All of the selected targets lie outside the main galaxies of the system and are associated with tidal debris. We find clusters with ages between a few and 125 Myr and confirm the ages estimated through Hubble Space Telescope photometry by Fedotov et al., as well as their modeled interaction history of the Quintet. Many of the clusters are found to be relatively long-lived, given their spectrosopically derived ages, while their high masses suggest that they will likely evolve to eventually become intergalactic clusters. One cluster, T118, is particularly interesting, given its age ({approx}125 Myr), high mass ({approx}2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 6} M{sub Sun }), and position in the extreme outer end of the young tidal tail. This cluster appears to be quite extended (R{sub eff} {approx} 12-15 pc) compared to clusters observed in galaxy disks (R{sub eff} {approx} 3-4 pc), which confirms an effect we previously found in the tidal tails of NGC 3256, where clusters are similarly extended. We find that star and cluster formation can proceed at a continuous pace for at least {approx}150 Myr within the tidal debris of interacting galaxies. The spectrum of the TDG candidate is dominated by a young population ({approx}7 Myr), and, assuming a single age for the entire region, has a mass of at least 10{sup 6} M{sub Sun }.

• OSTI ID: 22016103
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 748, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
GALAXIES
MASS
PHOTOMETRY
STAR CLUSTERS
STARS
TELESCOPES