Resolved Stellar Populations of the interacting galaxies of the M81 group
Abstract
We present the results from the state-of-the-art wide-field survey of the M81 galaxy group that we are conducting with Hyper Suprime-Cam on Subaru Telescope. Our photometry reaches about 2 mag below the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) and reveals the spatial distribution of both old and young stars over an area of 5°2 around the M81. The young main-sequence (MS) stars closely follow the HI distribution and can be found in a stellar stream between M81 and NGC 3077 and in numerous outlying stellar associations. Our survey also reveals for the first time the very extended (>2 × R25) halos of RGB stars around M81, M82, and NGC 3077, as well as faint tidal streams that link these systems. The gravitational interactions between M81, M82 and NGC 3077 galaxies induced star formation in tidally stripped gas, and also significantly perturbed the older stellar components leading to disturbed halo morphologies.
- Publication:
-
Formation and Evolution of Galaxy Outskirts
- Pub Date:
- March 2017
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1743921316011108
- Bibcode:
- 2017IAUS..321...22O
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: individual (M81;
- M82;
- NGC 3077);
- galaxies: interactions;
- galaxies: photometry;
- galaxies: stellar content;
- galaxies: structure