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dc.contributor.authorSmith, B.
dc.contributor.authorSoria, Roberto
dc.contributor.authorStruck, C.
dc.contributor.authorGiroux, M.
dc.contributor.authorSwartz, D.
dc.contributor.authorYukita, M.
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-30T15:03:21Z
dc.date.available2017-01-30T15:03:21Z
dc.date.created2014-03-31T20:00:36Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.identifier.citationSmith, Beverly J. and Soria, Roberto and Struck, Curtis and Giroux, Mark L. and Swartz, Douglas A. and Yukita, Mihoko. 2014. Extra-nuclear starbursts: Young luminous hinge clumps in interacting galaxies. The Astronomical Journal. 147 (3): Article 60.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42941
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/0004-6256/147/3/60
dc.description.abstract

Hinge clumps are luminous knots of star formation near the base of tidal features in some interacting galaxies. We use archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV/optical/IR images and Chandra X-ray maps along with Galaxy Evolution Explorer UV, Spitzer IR, and ground-based optical/near-IR images to investigate the star forming properties in a sample of 12 hinge clumps in five interacting galaxies. The most extreme of these hinge clumps have star formation rates of 1-9 M ☉ yr–1, comparable to or larger than the "overlap" region of intense star formation between the two disks of the colliding galaxy system the Antennae. In the HST images, we have found remarkably large and luminous sources at the centers of these hinge clumps. These objects are much larger and more luminous than typical "super star clusters" in interacting galaxies, and are sometimes embedded in a linear ridge of fainter star clusters, consistent with star formation along a narrow caustic. These central sources have FWHM diameters of ~70 pc, compared to ~3 pc in "ordinary" super star clusters. Their absolute I magnitudes range from MI ~ – 12.2 to –16.5; thus, if they are individual star clusters they would lie near the top of the "super star cluster" luminosity function of star clusters. These sources may not be individual star clusters, but instead may be tightly packed groups of clusters that are blended together in the HST images.Comparison to population synthesis modeling indicates that the hinge clumps contain a range of stellar ages. This is consistent with expectations based on models of galaxy interactions, which suggest that star formation may be prolonged in these regions.In the Chandra images, we have found strong X-ray emission from several of these hinge clumps. In most cases, this emission is well-resolved with Chandra and has a thermal X-ray spectrum, thus it is likely due to hot gas associated with the star formation. The ratio of the extinction-corrected diffuse X-ray luminosity to the mechanical energy rate (the X-ray production efficiency) for the hinge clumps is similar to that in the Antennae galaxies, but higher than those for regions in the normal spiral galaxy NGC 2403. Two of the hinge clumps have point-like X-ray emission much brighter than expected for hot gas; these sources are likely "ultra-luminous X-ray sources" due to accretion disks around black holes. The most extreme of these sources, in Arp 240, has a hard X-ray spectrum and an absorbed X-ray luminosity of ~2 × 1041 erg s–1; this is above the luminosity expected by single high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), thus it may be either a collection of HMXBs or an intermediate mass black hole (≥80 M ☉).

dc.publisherInstitute of Physics Publishing, Inc
dc.subjectgalaxies: starburst
dc.subjectNGC 2403)
dc.subjectArp 240
dc.subjectgalaxies: individual (Arp 82
dc.subjectNGC 2207
dc.subjectgalaxies: interactions
dc.subjectArp 270
dc.subjectArp 256
dc.subjectArp 244
dc.titleExtra-nuclear starbursts: Young luminous hinge clumps in interacting galaxies
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume147
dcterms.source.number60
dcterms.source.startPage1
dcterms.source.endPage28
dcterms.source.issn0004-6256
dcterms.source.titleThe Astronomical Journal
curtin.note

This is an author-created, un-copy edited version of an article accepted for publication The Astronomical Journal. The publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/147/3/60

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curtin.accessStatusOpen access


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