SCYON Abstract

Received on April 19 2001

Hubble Space Telescope Images of Stephan's Quintet: Star Cluster Formation in a Compact Group Environment

AuthorsS. C. Gallagher (1), J. C. Charlton (1), S. D. Hunsberger (1), D. Zaritsky (2), and B. C. Whitmore (3)
Affiliation(1) Penn State,
(2) Steward Observatory,
(3) STScI
Accepted byAstronomical Journal
Contactgallsc@astro.psu.edu
URLhttp://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/0104005
Links

Abstract

Analysis of Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images of Stephan's Quintet, Hickson Compact Group 92, yielded 115 candidate star clusters (with V-I < 1.5). Unlike in merger remants, the cluster candidates in Stephan's Quintet are not clustered in the inner regions of the galaxies; they are spread over the debris and surrounding area. Specifically, these sources are located in the long sweeping tail and spiral arms of NGC 7319, in the tidal debris of NGC 7318B/A, and in the intragroup starburst region north of these galaxies. Analysis of the colors of the clusters indicates several distinct epochs of star formation that appear to trace the complex history of dynamical interactions in this compact group.