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arXiv · 1102.1974

Arp220: extinction and merger-induced star formation

H. Engel·R. I. Davies·R. Genzel·L. J. Tacconi·E. Sturm·D. Downes
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Abstract

We analyse new spatially resolved integral field spectroscopic H- and K-band data at a resolution of 0.3arcsec (100pc) and re-analyse interferometric CO(2-1) line observations of the prototypical merging system Arp220. We find that the majority of the K-band luminosity is due to a 10Myr old starburst, with a significant contribution from an underlying ca 1Gyr old stellar population, and a small contribution from stars less than 8Myr old. The Calzetti (2000) reddening law provides the best fit to photometric datapoints spanning 0.45um -- 2.12um. Furthermore, estimates of the bolometric luminosity from IRAS fluxes in conjunction with our stellar population analysis indicate that we observe less than 10% of the emitted K-band light. The stellar and CO(2-1) kinematic centre of the western nucleus coincides with the compact hot dust emission, indicating that the latter marks the centre of the gravitational potential. In the eastern nucleus, the CO(2-1) data are well matched by a model in which the gas orbits around the peak of the dust emission. This, and the similarity of the K-band tracer kinematics, shows that despite the irregular morphology, the eastern nucleus is also a kinematically coherent structure. Comparison of the extinction map and EW_CO and EW_Br-gamma maps indicates that the lower half of the eastern nucleus is significantly more extincted than the upper half, suggesting that the lower half is buried in the larger-scale gas disk.

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H. Engel, R. I. Davies, R. Genzel, L. J. Tacconi, E. Sturm, D. Downes. 2011-02-09. Arp220: extinction and merger-induced star formation. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/729/1/58

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