Star‐forming Objects in the Tidal Tails of Compact Groups

A search for star forming objects belonging to tidal tails has been carriedout in a sample of deep Halpha images of 16 compact groups of galaxies. A totalof 36 objects with Halpha luminosity larger than 10^38 erg s-1 have beendetected in five groups. The fraction of the total Halpha luminosity of theirrespective parent galaxies shown by the tidal objects is always below 5% exceptfor the tidal features of HCG95, whose Halpha luminosity amounts to 65% of thetotal luminosity. Out of this 36 objects, 9 star forming tidal dwarf galaxycandidates have been finally identified on the basis of their projecteddistances to the nuclei of the parent galaxies and their total Halphaluminosities. Overall, the observed properties of the candidates resemble thosepreviously reported for the so-called tidal dwarf galaxies.Comment: 5 gif figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa