TY - JOUR
T1 - Star clusters in tidal debris
AU - Rodruck, Michael
AU - Charlton, Jane
AU - Borthakur, Sanchayeeta
AU - Chitre, Aparna
AU - Durrell, Patrick R.
AU - Elmegreen, Debra
AU - English, Jayanne
AU - Gallagher, Sarah C.
AU - Gronwall, Caryl
AU - Knierman, Karen
AU - Konstantopoulos, Iraklis
AU - Li, Yuexing
AU - Maji, Moupiya
AU - Mullan, Brendan
AU - Trancho, Gelys
AU - Vacca, William
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - We present results of a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UBVI-band study of star clusters in tidal tails, using new WFC3 and ACS imaging to complement existing WFPC2 data. We survey 12 tidal tails across seven merging systems, deriving ages and masses for 425 star cluster candidates (SCCs). The stacked mass distribution across all systems follows a power law of the form dN/d Mβ, with β =-2.02 ± 0.15, consistent with what is seen in other star-forming environments. GALEX and Swift UV imaging provide star formation rates (SFRs) for our tidal tails, which when compared with ages and masses of our SCCs, allows for a determination of the cluster formation efficiency (CFE). We find the CFE increases with increasing SFR surface density, matching the theoretical model. We confirm this fit down at SFR densities lower than previously measured (log ςSFR (M yr-1 kpc-2) ≈-4.2), as related to the CFE. We determine the half-light radii for a refined sample of 57 SCCs with our HST WFC3 and ACS imaging, and calculate their dynamical age, finding the majority of them to be gravitationally bound. We also provide evidence of only low-mass (<104 M) cluster formation in our nearest galaxy, NGC 1487, consistent with the theory that this system is a dwarf merger.
AB - We present results of a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UBVI-band study of star clusters in tidal tails, using new WFC3 and ACS imaging to complement existing WFPC2 data. We survey 12 tidal tails across seven merging systems, deriving ages and masses for 425 star cluster candidates (SCCs). The stacked mass distribution across all systems follows a power law of the form dN/d Mβ, with β =-2.02 ± 0.15, consistent with what is seen in other star-forming environments. GALEX and Swift UV imaging provide star formation rates (SFRs) for our tidal tails, which when compared with ages and masses of our SCCs, allows for a determination of the cluster formation efficiency (CFE). We find the CFE increases with increasing SFR surface density, matching the theoretical model. We confirm this fit down at SFR densities lower than previously measured (log ςSFR (M yr-1 kpc-2) ≈-4.2), as related to the CFE. We determine the half-light radii for a refined sample of 57 SCCs with our HST WFC3 and ACS imaging, and calculate their dynamical age, finding the majority of them to be gravitationally bound. We also provide evidence of only low-mass (<104 M) cluster formation in our nearest galaxy, NGC 1487, consistent with the theory that this system is a dwarf merger.
KW - galaxies: interactions
KW - galaxies: star clusters: general
KW - galaxies: star formation
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U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stad2886
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stad2886
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174737003
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 526
SP - 2341
EP - 2364
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 2
ER -