Clumps and Clusters in Ring Galaxies
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
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.
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.