Star Formation in the Outer Disk of NGC 5964
Abstract
We investigate star formation in the outer disk of NGC 5964 by combining HI and R-band data with deep H alpha images. The rotation curve and column densities for the galaxy are derived from HI synthesis images. Additionally, H2 surface densities are approximated using a relation between R-band disk scale lengths and CO disk scale lengths. We calculate critical gas surface densities, Sigmac, and investigate the relationships between the Toomre instability criterion and star formation activity. While the azimuthally averaged star formation rates in the outer edges of the disk are quite low, we still find significant star formation activity in regions of the outer disk where there are high concentrations of gas.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AAS...20713808M