Young star-forming complexes detected in the galaxy NGC 4324

Tomasz Nowakowski is a member of the physics.org community.

Astronomers used the Caucasus Mountain Observatory to investigate a lenticular galaxy. Young star-forming complexes were found in the inner ring. The findings presented on arXiv.org could help improve our knowledge about the formation and evolution of NGC 4324.

A lenticular galaxy about 66,000 light years in size is located 85 million light years away in the constellation. Its total mass is estimated to be at least 10 times greater than it is today.

The structure of a bright blue ring of star formation embedded in a large-scale stellar disk has been found by previous observations.

A group of people from the Moscow State University in Russia looked at the pattern of star formation. They used a telescope at the observatory. There were archival images from the surveys.

We used the MaNGaL instrument to take full images of the galaxy NGC 4324, which was centered on the H and NII emission lines. The observations were done with a telescope at the Caucasus Mountain Observatory.

18 young star-forming complexes were found with a mean size of about 1,600 light years. The largest clumps were thought to have 10 million solar mass.

The results show that the clumps have started to age recently. The stars that could have been formed about 200 million years ago can't contribute now because their luminosity peak has shifted to the NUV, according to the astronomer.

There is a constant distribution of star-forming complexes in the ring. The mechanisms for star formation are the same in spiral and lenticular galaxies.

The hypothesis that the disk could be fed with gas through the infall of gas-rich satellite galaxies or giant clouds was confirmed by the researchers.

The ring is made of clumps due to the instability of the stars. The first clusters of young stars in the gaseous clumps are most likely the shock waves from evolving complexes of massive OB stars. There is a chance that the infall of a satellite or a giant gas cloud onto the galactic disk can serve as a wake up call. The authors of the paper explained that the chain of gaseous clumps is a chain of propagation of star formation both in space and in time.

More information: I. S. Proshina, A. V. Moiseev, O. K. Sil'chenko, Young Star-Forming Complexes in the Ring of the S0 galaxy NGC 4324. arXiv:2210.07786v1 [astro-ph.GA], arxiv.org/abs/2210.07786

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