Ultraviolet Imaging Observations of the cD Galaxy in Abell 1795: Further Evidence for Massive Star Formation in a Cooling Flow
Abstract
We present images from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) of the Abell 1795 cluster of galaxies. We compare the cD galaxy morphology and photometry of these data with those from existing archival and published data. The addition of a far-UV color helps us to construct and test star formation model scenarios for the sources of UV emission. Models of star formation with rates in the range ~5-20 M⊙ yr-1 indicate that the best-fitting models are those with continuous star formation or a recent (~4 Myr old) burst superimposed on an old population. The presence of dust in the galaxy, dramatically revealed by Hubble Space Telescope images, complicates the interpretation of UV data. However, we find that the broadband UV/optical colors of this cD galaxy can be reasonably matched by models using a Galactic form for the extinction law with EB-V = 0.14. We also briefly discuss other objects in the large UIT field of view.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 1997
- DOI:
- 10.1086/303819
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9611024
- Bibcode:
- 1997ApJ...478..516S
- Keywords:
-
- Galaxies: Clusters: Individual: Name: Abell 1795;
- Galaxies: Elliptical and Lenticular;
- cD;
- Galaxies: Photometry;
- Galaxies: Stellar Content;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- To appear in the Astrophysical Journal. 14 AAS preprint style pages plus 7 figures