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When the Largest Spiral is Formed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2013

Rafael T. Eufrasio ,
Duília F. de Mello ,
Fernanda Urrutia-Viscarra ,
Claudia Mendes de Oliveira  and
Eli Dwek
Rafael T. Eufrasio
Affiliation:
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Duília F. de Mello
Affiliation:
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Fernanda Urrutia-Viscarra
Affiliation:
Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
Claudia Mendes de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
Eli Dwek
Affiliation:
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA
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Abstract

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We used UV-to-IR archival data to investigate the nature of the giant spiral galaxy, NGC 6872, 65 Mpc away. It belongs to the southern Pavo group and is interacting with a small lenticular galaxy, IC4970. GALEX UV images show a very large part of the galaxy not seen before, making it one of the largest spiral galaxies known, with a physical size greater than 150 kpc. The SED of 17 regions (10 kpc of diameter) across the two arms show a remarkable spatial distribution, as if they were mirror images with respect to their stellar population. However, the last 40 kpc of the northeastern arm are much bluer than any other region of the southwestern one. There is a strong spatial correlation between the NUV luminosity and the distance to the nucleus. The UV data supports the scenario of an interaction at 130 Myr which triggered star formation all over the disk of NGC 6872. The tip of the northeastern arm resembles a tidal dwarf galaxy in the process of formation.

Keywords

galaxies: spiral — galaxies: stellar content — galaxies: structure
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 8 , Symposium S292: Molecular Gas, Dust, and Star Formation in Galaxies , August 2012 , pp. 328
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

References

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