The Antennae Galaxies - a key to galactic evolution

• Applicants: Dr. Thorsten Naab; Dr. Simone Recchi, since 7/2010
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2007 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 42512932

• Final Report Year: 2012

Final Report Abstract

The Antennae system is a prototype for a galactic merger and interaction induced activity. Due to its proximity it is by far the best observed interacting system. We used the Antennae galaxies to test and extend current theories of stellar- and gas-dynamics in galaxy mergers. The DFG funding was used to theoretically investigate the origin and evolution of this prototypical system. In the part lead by the Vienna team (Theis) the initial conditions (orbit, orientation, mass-ratio, dark matter distribution etc.) of the interaction were investigated by applying and extending the software package MINGA, a genetic algorithm based search in parameter space. In close collaboration with the team in Vienna, the Munich team (Naab) investigated the physics of star formation and feedback using high-resolution self-consistent simulations. With a revised orbit we were able to, for the first time, present a model - which is now the new standard - that successfully reproduces the overlap starburst, a major step forward in the understanding of this system. Additional joint studies on the formation and disruption of star-clusters and magnetic fields benefitited significantly from the collaborative nature of the proposal (including colleagues from Strassbourg).

Publications

• (2008). Modeling merging galaxies using MINGA: Improving restricted N‐body by dynamical friction. Astronomische Nachrichten: Astronomical Notes, 329(9‐10), 1046-1049
  Petsch, H.P. & Theis, Ch.
  
• (2008). Towards an accurate model for the Antennae galaxies. Astronomische Nachrichten: Astronomical Notes, 329(9‐10), 1042-1045
  Karl, S. J., Naab, T., Johansson, P. H., Theis, C., & Boily, C. M.
  
• (2009). Fully compressive tides in galaxy mergers. The Astrophysical Journal, 706(1), 67
  Renaud, F., Boily, C., Naab, T., Theis, Ch.
  
• (2010). One Moment in Time—Modeling Star Formation in the Antennae. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 715(2), L88
  Karl, S. J., Naab, T., Johansson, P. H., Kotarba, H., Boily, C. M., Renaud, F., & Theis, C.
  
• (2010). Simulating magnetic fields in the Antennae galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal, 716(2), 1438
  Kotarba, H., Karl, S. J., Naab, T., Johansson, P. H., Dolag, K., Lesch, H., & Stasyszyn, F. A.
  
• (2010): Modeling Interacting Galaxies: NGC 4449 revisited. In: EAS Publications Series 44, S. 29–32
  Theis, Ch., Jungwirth, G., Petsch, H., & Walter, F.
  
• (2010, June). Measuring dark matter by modeling interacting galaxies. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 1240, No. 1, pp. 383-386). American Institute of Physics
  Petsch, H.P., Ruzicka, A., & Theis, Ch.
  
• (2010): Determining properties of the Antennae system – Merging ability for restricted N -body. In: EAS Publications Series 44, S. 33–36
  Petsch, H.P. & Theis, Ch.
  
• Disruption of Star Clusters in the Interacting Antennae Galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal, 734(1), 11
  Karl, S. J., Fall, S. M., & Naab, T.