Observations of the Interacting Galaxy Pair Arp 295

My most recent research interest involves the interaction of pairs of galaxies. Observation and theory suggest that gravitational interactions and mergers play an important role in the evolution of galaxies. Observations have revealed that interaction between galaxies can lead to increased star formation (e.g., Kennicutt et al. 1987) and thus higher luminosities. Interacting systems composed of two late-type (e.g. spiral) galaxies will eventually merge, the end result being a single early-type elliptical galaxy. Studies of distant (and therefore young) clusters of galaxies show that clusters once sported a higher percentage of late-type spiral and irregular galaxies than are observed in nearby (older) clusters (e.g. Dressler et al. 1994) leading to the conclusion that galaxy evolution in clusters is highly affected by gravitational interactions and mergers. Interactions between galaxies cause tidally stripped features to be formed, including tidal tails and bridges. Gravitational disturbances from interaction can cause clouds of atomic hydrogen with in the galaxies and tidally-stripped features to collapse thus inducing copious amounts of star formation. While tidal tails are long lived features, commonly seen in late-stage merger remnants, simulations show that bridges are features of the early stages of interaction and are short lived. Understanding these features and the resulting star formation is fundamental to our overall ability to explain and model interactions and mergers among galaxies. I have received a grant from Sigma Xi in support of this research to allow me to travel to the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, NM to observe a pair of interacting spiral galaxies known as Arp 295. My research advisor, Dr. Jeff Secker, and I have obtained deep red and blue band images of this interacting pair which I am now preparing for analysis.

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