利用碰撞环形星系探测银河相互作用/合并率的演化
摘要
我们 presenting results from our program to determine the evolution of the galaxy interaction/merger rate with redshift using the unique star-forming characteristics of collisional ring galaxies. We have identified 25 distant collisional ring galaxy candidates (CRGCs) in a total of 162 deep Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary Camera-2 images obtained from the HST Archives. Based on measured and estimated redshifts, these 25 CRGCs all lie in the redshift interval of 0.1 < z < 1. Using the local collisional ring galaxy volume density and the new ``standard'' cosmology, we find that in order to account for the number of identified CRGCs in our surveyed fields, the galaxy interaction/merger rate, parameterized as (1 + z)^m, must increase steeply with redshift.We determine a minimum value of m = 5.2 ± 0.7, though m could be as high as 7 or 8. We can rule out a non-evolving (m = 0) and weakly evolving (m = 1-2) galaxy interaction/merger rate at greater than the 4 sigma level of confidence.
引用
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0405128,
title = {Probing the Evolution of the Galaxy Interaction/Merger Rate Using Collisional Ring Galaxies},
author = {R. J. Lavery and A. Remijan and V. Charmandaris and R. D. Hayes and A. A. Ring},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0405128},
year = {2009}
}
备注
Accepted in the Astrophysical Journal (11 pages, 4 figures). Higher resolution version of the figures is available at http://www.astro.cornell.edu/~vassilis/papers/