A MUSE study of the fast bar in the weakly-interacting galaxy NGC 4264

TL;DR

This study uses MUSE spectroscopy and SDSS imaging to analyze the bar properties of NGC 4264, revealing a fast-rotating, strong, and large bar unaffected by recent tidal interactions.

Contribution

It provides detailed measurements of the bar radius, strength, and pattern speed in NGC 4264, demonstrating the bar's fast rotation and independence from tidal triggers.

Findings

NGC 4264 hosts a strong, large, fast-rotating bar.

The bar's formation was not triggered by the ongoing tidal interaction.

The bar pattern speed was accurately measured using MUSE spectroscopy.

Abstract

We present surface photometry and stellar kinematics of NGC 4264, a lenticular galaxy in the region of the Virgo Cluster undergoing a tidal interaction with its neighbour, NGC 4261. We measured the bar radius and strength from SDSS imaging and the bar pattern speed from MUSE integral-field spectroscopy. We find that NGC 4264 hosts a strong and large bar, which is rotating fast. The accurate measurement of the bar rotation rate allows us to exclude that the formation of the bar was triggered by the ongoing interaction.