U.S.-Netherlands Cooperative Research: Metal Abundances in Extragalactic Tails and Bridges

这个为期两年的奖项是由东田纳西州立大学的Beverly Smith和荷兰格罗宁根Kapetyn研究所的James Higdon和Jan van der Hulst合作进行的，旨在对15个星系外尾和桥的样本进行全面研究，以确定金属丰度、恒星形成速率和效率如何随气体表面密度、相互作用参数和时间尺度而变化。以及结构的恒星和气体形态。拟议的观测将使用威廉·赫谢尔4.5米望远镜（由荷兰和英国操作），由东南天文研究协会（SARA）操作的0.9望远镜，以及国家射电天文台12米毫米望远镜和甚大阵列进行。观测研究将与样品中单个系统的流体动力学建模同时进行，以更好地定义相互作用的参数，并帮助确定触发尾星和桥星形成所需的条件。美国研究人员为此次合作带来SARA 0.9望远镜，该望远镜将用于获取所需的光学成像数据。荷兰和英国利用420米的威廉·赫歇尔望远镜获得了光学光谱，从而提供了金属丰度的估计。希格顿在分析和解释相互作用的星系方面带来了丰富的经验。该项目将促进对星际介质和星系外尾和桥的恒星形成特性的理解。

9908542SmithThis two-year award is for U.S.-Netherlands cooperative research between Beverly Smith of East Tennessee State University and James Higdon and Jan van der Hulst of Kapetyn Institute in Groningen, The Netherlands, for a comprehensive study of a sample of fifteen extragalactic tails and bridges to determine how metal abundances, star formation rates and efficiencies vary with gas surface density, interaction parameters and timescale, and the stellar and gaseous morphology of the structure. The proposed observations will be made with the William Hershel 4.5m telescope (operated by The Netherlands and the UK), and 0.9 telescope operated by the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA), and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory 12m millimeter telescope and Very Large Array. The observational study will be done in parallel with hydrodynamical modeling of the individual systems in the sample to better define the parameters of the interactions and help determine the conditions needed to trigger star formation in tails and bridges. The U.S. investigator brings to this collaboration access to the SARA 0.9 telescope, which will be used to obtain the required optical imaging data. This is complemented by Dutch and UK access to the 4.2m William Hershel Telescope to obtain the optical spectroscopy that provide estimates of the metal abundances. Higdon brings considerable experience in the analysis and interpretation of interacting galaxies. The project will advance understanding of the interstellar medium and star formation properties of extragalactic tails and bridges.