Open AccessStar Formation Timescale in the Circumnuclear Starburst Ring of Barred Galaxy NGC 7552
Author(s) -
Hsi-An Pan,
Jeremy Lim,
Satoki Matsushita,
Tony Wong
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/372/1/012066
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , galaxy , barred spiral galaxy , line (geometry) , star formation , dwarf galaxy , astronomy , interacting galaxy , irregular galaxy , galaxy merger , geometry , mathematics
We present the multiple line observations carried out with interferometry. We observed the circumnuclear region of the barred galaxy NGC 7552 in molecular lines tracing diffuse molecular gas ( 12CO J 2 - 1; observed by SMA) and relatively dense molecular gas (HCN J 1 - 0; observed by ATCA). We also reprocessed a published HI image which covers the entire galaxy to gain an analytical image with higher resolution. The displacement between HCN (J 1 - 0) and radio knots (3 cm continuum; ATCA archive data) is clearly seen in the circumnuclear starburst ring of NGC 7552. The propagation time derived from 12CO J 2 - 1 and HI based rotation curve between the HCN (J 1 - 0) and radio knots implies the timescale between the formation and death of massive stars. The timescale of NGC 7552 is about an order of magnitude shorter than 5 - 10 Myr timescale for OB stars to become supernovae. It is possible that star formation in the ring is top heavy, resulting in a shorter timescale.link_to_subscribed_fulltex