Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T12:09:04.044Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interactions and star formation

Part of: IAU Issue 315 - From Interstellar Clouds...

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2016

Johan H. Knapen ,
Mauricio Cisternas  and
Miguel Querejeta
Johan H. Knapen
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Mauricio Cisternas
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Miguel Querejeta
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We investigate the influence of interactions on the star formation by studying a sample of almost 1500 of the nearest galaxies, all within a distance of ~45 Mpc. We define the massive star formation rate (SFR), as measured from far-IR emission, and the specific star formation rate (SSFR), which is the former quantity normalized by the stellar mass of the galaxy, and explore their distribution with morphological type and with stellar mass. We then calculate the relative enhancement of these quantities for each galaxy by normalizing them by the median SFR and SSFR values of individual control populations of similar non-interacting galaxies. We find that both SFR and SSFR are enhanced in interacting galaxies, and more so as the degree of interaction is higher. The increase is, however, moderate, reaching a maximum of a factor of 1.9 for the highest degree of interaction (mergers). The SFR and SSFR are enhanced statistically in the population, but in most individual interacting galaxies they are not enhanced at all. We discuss how those galaxies with the largest SFR and/or SSFR enhancement can be defined as starbursts. We argue that this study, based on a representative sample of nearby galaxies, should be used to place constraints on studies based on samples of galaxies at larger distances.

Keywords

Galaxies: generalGalaxies: interactionsGalaxies: starbursts
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 11 , Symposium S315: From Interstellar Clouds to Star-Forming Galaxies: Universal Processes? , August 2015 , pp. 236 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

Barnes, J. E. & Hernquist, L. E. 1991, ApJ, 370, L65 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Matteo, P., Combes, F., Melchior, A.-L., & Semelin, B. 2007, A&A, 468, 61 Google Scholar
Ellison, S. L., Mendel, J. T., Patton, D. R., & Scudder, J. M. 2013, MNRAS, 435, 3627 Google Scholar
Hernández-Toledo, H. M., Avila-Reese, V., Conselice, C. J., & Puerari, I. 2005, AJ, 129, 682 Google Scholar
Joseph, R. D. & Wright, G. S. 1985, MNRAS, 214, 87 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knapen, J. H. & Cisternas, M. 2015, ApJL, 807, L16 Google Scholar
Knapen, J. H., Cisternas, M., & Querejeta, M. 2015, MNRAS, 454, 1742 Google Scholar
Knapen, J. H., Erroz-Ferrer, S., Roa, J., et al. 2014, A&A, 569, AA91 Google Scholar
Knapen, J. H. & James, P. A. 2009, ApJ 698 1437 (KJ09)Google Scholar
Larson, R. B. & Tinsley, B. M. 1978, ApJ, 219, 46 Google Scholar
Querejeta, M., Meidt, S. E., Schinnerer, E., et al. 2015, ApJS, 219, 5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheth, K., Regan, M., Hinz, J. L., et al. 2010, PASP, 122, 1397 Google Scholar