GASP XIII. Star formation in gas outside galaxies
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
•
•
Tonnesen, Stephanie
•
•
•
•
Jaffé, Yara
•
Fritz, Jacopo
•
•
•
•
•
Abstract
Based on MUSE data from the GASP survey, we study the H α-emitting extraplanar tails of 16 cluster galaxies at z ∼ 0.05 undergoing ram pressure stripping. We demonstrate that the dominating ionization mechanism of this gas (between 64 per cent and 94 per cent of the H α emission in the tails depending on the diagnostic diagram used) is photoionization by young massive stars due to ongoing star formation (SF) taking place in the stripped tails. This SF occurs in dynamically quite cold H II clumps with a median H α velocity dispersion σ = 27 km s^{-1}. We study the characteristics of over 500 star-forming clumps in the tails and find median values of H α luminosity L_{H α } = 4× 10^{38} erg s^{-1}, dust extinction AV = 0.5 mag, star formation rate SFR=0.003 M_{☉} yr^{-1}, ionized gas density n_e =52 cm^{-3}, ionized gas mass M_gas = 4× 10^4 M_{☉}, and stellar mass M_{*} = 3× 10^6 M_{☉}. The tail clumps follow scaling relations (Mgas - M*, LH α - σ, SFR-Mgas) similar to disc clumps, and their stellar masses are comparable to Ultra Compact Dwarfs and Globular Clusters. The diffuse gas component in the tails is ionized by a combination of SF and composite/LINER-like emission likely due to thermal conduction or turbulence. The stellar photoionization component of the diffuse gas can be due either to leakage of ionizing photons from the H II clumps with an average escape fraction of 18 per cent, or lower luminosity H II regions that we cannot individually identify.
Volume
482
Issue
4
Start page
4466
Issn Identifier
0035-8711
Ads BibCode
2019MNRAS.482.4466P
Rights
open.access
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
1811.00823.pdf
Size
23.16 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4603715d2c519241dd93b8486e67a94a
Loading...
Name
sty2999-compr.pdf
Description
PDF editoriale
Size
3.08 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
9c8ede7c1b68388738949ba2b2a2cfa1