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The ALMA view of the Antennae galaxy collision: How galaxy interaction triggers the formation of super star clusters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2016

Cinthya N. Herrera
Affiliation:
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Japan email: [email protected]
François Boulanger
Affiliation:
Institut d'Astrophyisque Spatiale Université Paris Sud, Batiment 121, 91405 Orsay, France email: [email protected], [email protected]
Edith G. Falgarone
Affiliation:
Ecole Normale Superieure, LERMA 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris, France email: [email protected]
Guillaume Pineau des Forêts
Affiliation:
Institut d'Astrophyisque Spatiale Université Paris Sud, Batiment 121, 91405 Orsay, France email: [email protected], [email protected]
Santiago García-Burillo
Affiliation:
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional Aptdo 1143, 28800 Alcalá de Henares, Spain email: [email protected]
Daisuke Iono
Affiliation:
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Japan email: [email protected]
Pierre Guillard
Affiliation:
Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 6 et CNRS, UMR 7095, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris 98 bis bd Arago, 75014 Paris, France email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The Antennae galaxies are a spectacular example of a burst of star formation triggered by the encounter of two galaxies, being an ideal source to understand how the dynamics of galaxy mergers drives star formation. We present archive ALMA CO(3−2) and VLT near-IR H2 spectro-imaging observations, and new ALMA 13CO(2−1) and dust continuum observations, at ~50 pc resolution. Combining tracers of density and velocity structure of the gas and its energetics, we demonstrate that star formation involves a complex interplay of merger-driven gas dynamics and turbulence, and the dissipation of the gas kinetic energy. We focus on a compact, bright H2 source, associated with cold molecular gas and dust continuum emission, located where the velocity gradient in the interaction region is observed to be the largest. The characteristics of this source suggest that we are witnessing the formation, initiated by turbulent dissipation, of a cloud massive enough (~4×106M) to form a super star cluster within 1 Myr.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

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