Stellar Populations in Tidal Tails
Abstract
Tidal tails afford us a unique window into the processes shaping star formation, offering an unobstructed view of the star formation environment in these outskirts. The latest galactic merger simulations are finding an unexpected increase of star formation in extended tidal debris, with 20 - 50% of the systems star formation rate occurring in these regions. We see this observationally in massive clusters forming in the Tadpole galaxy, occupying 30% of the system's star formation rate. These clusters act as luminous tracers of star formation, allowing us to study the star formation history in the tidal debris. In this dissertation talk, I will present results on a recent broadband UBVI survey of star clusters in tidal tails from the Hubble Space Telescope. From this data, we can see that tidal tails can host star formation, despite their diffuse nature. Additionally, I will present work on the study of the diffuse light of tidal debris, which hosts both stars from the progenitor galaxies, as well as recently formed, disrupted star clusters. With similar ugri ground based imaging, I show how the stellar light can be broken into its constituent old and new populations. In this manner, we can form a more holistic view of tidal tails.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23525004R