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Stars and Gas in the Large Interacting Galaxy NGC 6872

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

Cathy Horellou  and
Bärbel Koribalski
Cathy Horellou
Affiliation:
Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-439 92 Onsala, Sweden
Bärbel Koribalski
Affiliation:
Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, P.O. Box 76, Epping 1710, Australia

Abstract

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The luminous barred galaxy NGC 6872 is one of the largest spiral galaxies known. Star formation occurs all along the arms, which extend over more than 100 kpc. The galaxy experiences tidal perturbations from the nearby companion IC 4970 passing by on a low-inclination, prograde orbit. We have mapped the large-scale distribution and kinematics of the atomic gas (HI) in the NGC 6872/IC 4970 system and carried out N-body simulations with stars and gas. HI is absent from the central region; on the other hand, large gas concentrations are found at the tip of the tidal arms, spatially coincident with the blue stellar clusters and with the peaks of the Hα distribution. We use that remarkable system to investigate the evolution of gas and stars in a close prograde encounter, examine the influence of a dark matter halo on the length of the tidal tails, and test models of collisionally induced star formation.

Type
Part 3. Ejection and Outflow
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 217: Recycling Intergalactic and Interslettar Matter , 2004 , pp. 422 - 423
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2004