Massive star cluster formation and evolution in tidal dwarf galaxies

• The formation of globular clusters remains an open debate. Dwarf starburst galaxies are efficient at forming young massiveclusters with similar masses as globular clusters and may hold the key to understanding their formation.Aims.We study star cluster formation in a tidal debris - including the vicinity of three tidal dwarf galaxies - in a massive gas dominatedcollisional ring around NGC 5291. These dwarfs have physical parameters which differ significantly from local starbursting dwarfs.They are gas-rich, highly turbulent, have a gas metallicity already enriched up to half-solar, and are expected to be free of dark matter.The aim is to study massive star cluster formation in this as yet unexplored type of environment.Methods.We use imaging from theHubble Space Telescopeusing broadband filters covering the wavelength range from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. We determine the masses and ages of the cluster candidates by using the spectral energy distribution-fitting code CIGALE, carefully considering age-extinction degeneracy effects on the estimation of the physical parameters.Results.We find that the tidal dwarf galaxies in the ring of NGC 5291 are forming star clusters with an average efficiency of∼40%,comparable to blue compact dwarf galaxies. We also find massive star clusters for which the photometry suggests that they wereformed at the very birth of the tidal dwarf galaxies and have survived for several hundred million years. Therefore our study showsthat extended tidal dwarf galaxies and compact clusters may be formed simultaneously. In the specific case observed here, the youngstar clusters are not massive enough to survive for a Hubble time. However one may speculate that similar objects at higher redshift,with higher star formation rate, might form some of the long lived globular clusters.Key words.galaxies: dwarf, galaxies: star clusters: general, galaxies: irregular, galaxies: star formation, galaxies: stellar content,galaxies: interactions

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies

Publication and Content Type

ovr (subject category)

vet (subject category)