| 1. |
- Fathi, Kambiz, et al.
(author)
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Spiral Inflow Feeding the Nuclear Starburst in M83 : Observed in Hα Emission with the GHαFaS Fabry-Perot Interferometer
- 2008
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 675:1, s. L17-L20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present observations of the nearby barred starburst galaxy M83 (NGC 5236), with the new Fabry-Perot interferometer GHαFaS mounted on the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope on La Palma. The unprecedented high-resolution observations, of 16 pc FWHM-1, of the Hα-emitting gas cover the central 2 kpc of the galaxy. The velocity field displays the dominant disk rotation with signatures of gas inflow from kpc scales down to the nuclear regions. At the inner inner Lindblad resonance radius of the main bar and centered at the dynamical center of the main galaxy disk, a nuclear (5.5 +/- 0.9) × 108 Msolar rapidly rotating disk with scale length of 60+/-20 pc has formed. The nuclear starburst is found in the vicinity as well as inside this nuclear disk, and our observations confirm that gas spirals in from the outer parts to feed the nuclear starburst, giving rise to several star formation events at different epochs, within the central 100 pc radius of M83.
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| 2. |
- Carignan, Claude, et al.
(author)
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GHαFaS: galaxy Hα Fabry-Perot system for the WHT
- 2008
-
In: SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. ; 7014:188
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Research review (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- GHαFaS is a new Fabry-Perot system available at the William Herschel Telescope. It was mounted, for the first time, at the Nasmyth focus of the 4.2 m WHT in La Palma in 2007 July. With a spectral resolution of the order R~15000 and a seeing limited spatial resolution, GHαFaS provides a new look at the Hα-emitting gas over a 4 arcminutes circular field in the nearby universe. Many types of objects can be observed with a scanning Fabry-Perot system on a 4.2 m class telescope such as galaxies, HII regions, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants outflows from stars and the diffuse interstellar medium. Astronomers from the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique Experimentale (LAE) in Montreal, the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), have inaugurated GHαFaS by studying in detail the dynamics of nearby spiral galaxies. A robust set of tools for reducing and analyzing the data cubes obtained with GHαFaS has also been developed.
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