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Register a new userThe NGC7771+NGC7770 Minor Merger: Harassing the Little One?
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Added by
Almudena Alonso-Herrero
Publication date
2012
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Authors
Almudena Alonso-Herrero
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Numerical simulations of minor mergers, typically having mass ratios greater than 3:1, predict little enhancement in the global star formation activity. However, these models also predict that the satellite galaxy is more susceptible to the effects of the interaction than the primary. We use optical integral field spectroscopy and deep optical imaging to study the NGC7771+NGC7770 interacting system (~10:1 stellar mass ratio) to test these predictions. We find that the satellite galaxy NGC7770 is currently experiencing a galaxy-wide starburst with most of the optical light being from young and post-starburst stellar populations(<1Gyr). This galaxy lies off of the local star-forming sequence for composite galaxies with an enhanced integrated specific star formation rate. We also detect in the outskirts of NGC7770 Halpha emitting gas filaments. This gas appears to have been stripped from one of the two galaxies and is being excited by shocks. All these results are consistent with a minor-merger induced episode(s) of star formation in NGC7770 after the first close passage. Such effects are not observed on the primary galaxy NGC7771.
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Using the N-body+Smoothed particle hydrodynamics code, ChaNGa, we identify two merger-driven processestextemdash disk disruption and supermassive black hole (SMBH) feedbacktextemdash which work together to quench L$^*$ galaxies for over 7 Gyr. Specifically, we examine the cessation of star formation in a simulated Milky Way (MW) analog, driven by an interaction with two minor satellites. Both interactions occur within $sim$100 Myr of each other, and the satellites both have masses 5 to 20 times smaller than that of their MW-like host galaxy. Using the genetic modification process of cite{Roth2016}, we generate a set of four zoom-in, MW-mass galaxies all of which exhibit unique star formation histories due to small changes to their assembly histories. In two of these four cases, the galaxy is quenched by $z = 1$. Because these are controlled modifications, we are able to isolate the effects of two closely-spaced minor merger events, the relative timing of which determines whether the MW-mass main galaxy quenches. This one-two punch works to: 1. fuel the primary halos supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its peak accretion rate; and 2. disrupt the cold, gaseous disk of the host galaxy. The end result is that feedback from the SMBH thoroughly and abruptly ends the galaxys star formation by $zapprox1$. We search for and find a similar quenching event in {sc Romulus25}, a hydrodynamical $(25,mathrm{Mpc})^3$ volume simulation, demonstrating that the mechanism is common enough to occur even in a small sample of MW-mass quenched galaxies at $z=0$.
Calculating the galaxy merger rate requires both a census of galaxies identified as merger candidates, and a cosmologically-averaged `observability timescale T_obs(z) for identifying galaxy mergers. While many have counted galaxy mergers using a variety of techniques, T_obs(z) for these techniques have been poorly constrained. We address this problem by calibrating three merger rate estimators with a suite of hydrodynamic merger simulations and three galaxy formation models. We estimate T_obs(z) for (1) close galaxy pairs with a range of projected separations, (2) the morphology indicator G-M20, and (3) the morphology indicator asymmetry A. Then we apply these timescales to the observed merger fractions at z < 1.5 from the recent literature. When our physically-motivated timescales are adopted, the observed galaxy merger rates become largely consistent. The remaining differences between the galaxy merger rates are explained by the differences in the range of mass-ratio measured by different techniques and differing parent galaxy selection. The major merger rate per unit co-moving volume for samples selected with constant number density evolves much more strongly with redshift (~ (1+z)^(+3.0 pm 1.1)) than samples selected with constant stellar mass or passively evolving luminosity (~ (1+z)^(+0.1 pm 0.4)). We calculate the minor merger rate (1:4 < M_{sat}/M_{primary} <~ 1:10) by subtracting the major merger rate from close pairs from the `total merger rate determined by G-M20. The implied minor merger rate is ~3 times the major merger rate at z ~ 0.7, and shows little evolution with redshift.
We present an analysis of the structures and dynamics of the merging cluster Abell~1201, which has two sloshing cold fronts around a cooling core, and an offset gas core approximately 500kpc northwest of the center. New Chandra and XMM-Newton data reveal a region of enhanced brightness east of the offset core, with breaks in surface brightness along its boundary to the north and east. This is interpreted as a tail of gas stripped from the offset core. Gas in the offset core and the tail is distinguished from other gas at the same distance from the cluster center chiefly by having higher density, hence lower entropy. In addition, the offset core shows marginally lower temperature and metallicity than the surrounding area. The metallicity in the cool core is high and there is an abrupt drop in metallicity across the southern cold front. We interpret the observed properties of the system, including the placement of the cold fronts, the offset core and its tail in terms of a simple merger scenario. The offset core is the remnant of a merging subcluster, which first passed pericenter southeast of the center of the primary cluster and is now close to its second pericenter passage, moving at ~1000 km/s. Sloshing excited by the merger gave rise to the two cold fronts and the disposition of the cold fronts reveals that we view the merger from close to the plane of the orbit of the offset core.
We present an observational study of the interaction effect on the dynamics and morphology of the minor merger AM1219-430. This work is based on r and g images and long-slit spectra obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph at the Gemini South Telescope. We detected a tidal tail in the main galaxy (AM1219A) and a bridge of material connecting the galaxies. In luminosity, AM1219A is about 3.8 times brighter than the secondary (AM1219B). The surface brightness profile of AM1219A was decomposed into bulge and disc components. The profile shows a light excess of ~ 53 % due to the contribution of star-forming regions, which is typical of starburst galaxies. On the other hand, the surface brightness profile of AM1219B shows a lens structure in addition to the bulge and disc. The scale lengths and central magnitudes of the disc structure of both galaxies agree with the average values derived for galaxies with no sign of ongoing interaction or disturbed morphology. The Sersic index (n<2), the effective and scale radii of the bulge of both galaxies are typical of pseudo-bulges. The rotation curve of AM1219A derived from the emission line of ionized gas is quite asymmetric, suggesting a gas perturbed by interaction. We explore all possible values of stellar and dark matter masses. The overall best-fitting solution for the mass distribution of AM1219A was found with M/L for bulge and disc of M/L_b=2.8_-0.4^+0.4 and M/L_d=2.4_-0.2^+0.3, respectively, and a Navarro, Frenk and White profile of M_200=2.0_-0.4^+0.5 x10^12 M_sun and c=16.0_-1.1^+1.2. The estimated dynamical mass is 1.6x10^11 M_sun, within a radius of ~ 10.6 kpc.
We present VIMOS integral field spectroscopy of the brightest radio-quiet QSO on the southern sky HE 1029-1401 at a redshift of z=0.086. Standard decomposition techniques for broad-band imaging are extended to integral field data in order to deblend the QSO and host emission. We perform a tentative analysis of the stellar continuum finding a young stellar population (<100Myr) or a featureless continuum embedded in an old stellar population (10Gyr) typical for a massive elliptical galaxy. The stellar velocity dispersion of sigma_*=320pm90 km/s and the estimated black hole mass log(M_BH/M_sun)=8.7pm0.3 are consistent with the local M_BH-sigma_* relation within the errors. For the first time we map the two-dimensional ionised gas distribution and the gas velocity field around HE 1029-1401. While the stellar host morphology is purely elliptical we find a highly structured distribution of ionised gas out to 16 kpc from the QSO. The gas is highly ionised solely by the QSO radiation and has a significantly lower metallicity than would be expected for the stellar mass of the host, indicating an external origin of the gas most likely due to minor mergers. We find a rotating gas disc around the QSO and a dispersion-dominated non-rotating gas component within the central 3 kpc. At larger distances the velocity field is heavily disturbed, which could be interpreted as another signature of past minor merger events. Alternatively, the arc-like structure seen in the ionised gas might also be indicative of a large-scale expanding bubble, centred on and possibly driven by the active nucleus.
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