Probing the nature of the pre-merging system Hickson Compact Group 31 through IFU data

TL;DR

This study uses integral field spectroscopy to analyze the kinematics and physical properties of the Hickson Compact Group 31, revealing new details about its merging dwarf galaxies and star formation activity.

Contribution

First detailed spatially resolved physical parameter maps of HCG 31A+C, identifying a super stellar cluster and quantifying star formation rates during merging.

Findings

Detection of a super stellar cluster near HCG 31C

High star formation rate (~11 M_sun/yr) in the merging region

Evidence supporting ongoing merging process in HCG 31A+C

Abstract

We present a study of the kinematics and the physical properties of the central region of the Hickson Compact Group 31 (HCG 31), focusing on the HCG 31A+C system, using integral field spectroscopy data taken with the Gemini-south telescope. The main players in the merging event (galaxies A and C) are two dwarf galaxies that in the past have already had one close encounter, given the observed tidal tails, and may now be in their second approach, possibly about to merge. We present new velocity fields and H{\alpha} emission, stellar continuum, velocity dispersion, electron density, H{\alpha} equivalent width and age maps. Considering the high spatial resolution of the IFU data, we were able to measure various components and estimate their physical parameters, spatially resolving the different structures in this region. Our main findings are the following: (1) we report for the first time the presence of a super stellar cluster next to the burst associated to the HCG 31C central blob, related to the high values of velocity dispersion observed in this region as well as to the highest value of stellar continuum emission. This may suggest that this system is cleaning its environment through strong stellar winds that may then trigger a strong star formation event in its neighborhood, (2) among other physical parameters, we estimate an L(H{\alpha})~14x10^{41} erg/s and a SFR~11 Msol/yr for the central merging region of HCG 31 A+C. These values indicate a high star formation density, suggesting that the system is part of a merging object, supporting previous scenarios proposed for this system.