Clumps and Clusters in Ring Galaxies

Authors' Affiliations

Taylor Dennis -East Tennessee State University Department of Physics and Astronomy Beverly J. Smith -East Tennessee State University Department of Physics and Astronomy

Location

Ballroom

Start Date

4-5-2018 8:00 AM

End Date

4-5-2018 12:00 PM

Poster Number

16

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Beverly J. Smith

Faculty Sponsor's Department

East Tennessee State University Department of Physics and Astronomy

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Type

Poster: Competitive

Project's Category

Natural Sciences

Abstract or Artist's Statement

For a sample of collisional ring galaxies, archival Hubble Space Telescope images were used to compare individual star clusters and kpc-sized clumps of star formation to each other in a variety of ways. For each galaxy, instrument, and filter, the magnitude of the brightest cluster in a clump was compared to the magnitude of the entire clump, and the fraction of the flux of the clusters in a clump over the flux of the entire clump was calculated and compared to star formation rates. In addition, a cluster luminosity function for each galaxy was derived. Comparing the brightest cluster in a clump to the magnitude of the entire clump and the flux ratio to the star formation rate did not show any significant patterns. However, the α found for the galaxies tended to be much flatter than what had been found in previous research. The α found seemed to be affected by the size of the bin used in the luminosity function. Using this information, α could be calculated for other incredibly luminous galaxies to see if the trend of flatter α continues.

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Apr 5th, 8:00 AM Apr 5th, 12:00 PM

Clumps and Clusters in Ring Galaxies

Ballroom

For a sample of collisional ring galaxies, archival Hubble Space Telescope images were used to compare individual star clusters and kpc-sized clumps of star formation to each other in a variety of ways. For each galaxy, instrument, and filter, the magnitude of the brightest cluster in a clump was compared to the magnitude of the entire clump, and the fraction of the flux of the clusters in a clump over the flux of the entire clump was calculated and compared to star formation rates. In addition, a cluster luminosity function for each galaxy was derived. Comparing the brightest cluster in a clump to the magnitude of the entire clump and the flux ratio to the star formation rate did not show any significant patterns. However, the α found for the galaxies tended to be much flatter than what had been found in previous research. The α found seemed to be affected by the size of the bin used in the luminosity function. Using this information, α could be calculated for other incredibly luminous galaxies to see if the trend of flatter α continues.