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The Merger History, AGN and Dwarf Galaxies of Hickson Compact Group 59Compact group galaxies often appear unaffected by their unusually dense environment. Closer examination can, however, reveal the subtle, cumulative effects of multiple galaxy interactions. Hickson Compact Group (HCG) 59 is an excellent example of this situation. We present a photometric study of this group in the optical (HST), infrared (Spitzer) and X-ray (Chandra) regimes aimed at characterizing the star formation and nuclear activity in its constituent galaxies and intra-group medium. We associate five dwarf galaxies with the group and update the velocity dispersion, leading to an increase in the dynamical mass of the group of up to a factor of 10 (to 2.8 x 10(exp 13) Stellar Mass), and a subsequent revision of its evolutionary stage. Star formation is proceeding at a level consistent with the morphological types of the four main galaxies, of which two are star-forming and the other two quiescent. Unlike in some other compact groups, star-forming complexes across HCG 59 closely follow mass-radius scaling relations typical of nearby galaxies. In contrast, the ancient globular cluster populations in galaxies HCG 59A and B show intriguing irregularities, and two extragalactic HII regions are found just west of B. We age-date a faint stellar stream in the intra-group medium at approx. 1 Gyr to examine recent interactions. We detect a likely low-luminosity AGN in HCG 59A by its approx. 10(exp 40) erg/s X-ray emission; the active nucleus rather than star formation can account for the UV+IR SED. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of galaxy evolution in dense environments.
Document ID
20120012974
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Konstantopoulos, I. S. (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Gallagher, S. C. (University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada)
Fedotov, K. (University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada)
Durrell, P. R. (Youngstown State Univ. OH, United States)
Tzanavaris, P. (Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Hill, A. R. (University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada)
Zabludoff, A. I. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Maier, M. L. (Gemini Observatory La Serena, Chile)
Elmegreen, D. M. (Vassar Coll. Poughkeepsie, NY, United States)
Charlton, J. C. (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Johnson, K. E. (Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Brandt, W. N. (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Walker, L. M. (Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Eracleous, M. (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Maybhate, A. (Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Gronwall, C. (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
English, J. (Manitoba Univ. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
Hornschemeier, A. E. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Mulchaey, J. S. (Carnegie Institution for Science Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2013
Publication Date
October 3, 2011
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.6251.2012
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS8-03060
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-26555
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF 0908984
CONTRACT_GRANT: HST-GO-10787.15-A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX10AE88G
CONTRACT_GRANT: HST-GO-10787.07-A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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