Star Formation Histories and Stellar Dynamics in the Central Galaxies of RX J0820.9+0752, A1835, and PKS 0745-191

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gingras, Marie-Joëlle, McNamara, B. R., Coil, Alison L., Perrotta, Serena, Brighenti, Fabrizio, Russell, H. R., Oh, S. Peng, Ning, Wenmeng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Gingras, Marie-Joëlle
McNamara, B. R.
Coil, Alison L.
Perrotta, Serena
Brighenti, Fabrizio
Russell, H. R.
Oh, S. Peng
Ning, Wenmeng
author_facet Gingras, Marie-Joëlle
McNamara, B. R.
Coil, Alison L.
Perrotta, Serena
Brighenti, Fabrizio
Russell, H. R.
Oh, S. Peng
Ning, Wenmeng
contents We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager observations of stellar populations in three galaxies at the centers of cooling flow clusters. All three host rich molecular gas reservoirs and show prominent Balmer absorption from $30-100$ Myr-old stars consistent with long lasting star formation. Two systems, A1835 and PKS 0745-191, have extended young stellar populations in their centers with recent star formation rates of 100 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ and 8 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively. In A1835 we uncover a massive blueshifted clump of young stars moving at high speed with respect to the gas and central galaxy. We suggest this feature is a young population that formed in a gaseous outflow that has detached from its natal gas and is falling back toward the galaxy. This result, combined with a companion study (arXiv:2404.02212) tracing nebular emission which presumably cooled from the hot X-ray atmosphere, indicates that star formation is proceeding in a dynamically complex environment resulting from the central galaxy's motion with respect to the cooling clouds and motion induced by feedback from the central radio jets. In RX J0820.9+0752 intermediate age stars are found in a filament outside of the nucleus with no discernible star formation at the center of the galaxy. All projected galaxies are composed of old stellar populations with deep D4000 breaks and are devoid of detectable warm gas. While in some instances they may be interacting gravitationally with the central galaxy, they cannot have donated the upward of $10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ of molecular gas found in these systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_01986
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Star Formation Histories and Stellar Dynamics in the Central Galaxies of RX J0820.9+0752, A1835, and PKS 0745-191
Gingras, Marie-Joëlle
McNamara, B. R.
Coil, Alison L.
Perrotta, Serena
Brighenti, Fabrizio
Russell, H. R.
Oh, S. Peng
Ning, Wenmeng
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager observations of stellar populations in three galaxies at the centers of cooling flow clusters. All three host rich molecular gas reservoirs and show prominent Balmer absorption from $30-100$ Myr-old stars consistent with long lasting star formation. Two systems, A1835 and PKS 0745-191, have extended young stellar populations in their centers with recent star formation rates of 100 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ and 8 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively. In A1835 we uncover a massive blueshifted clump of young stars moving at high speed with respect to the gas and central galaxy. We suggest this feature is a young population that formed in a gaseous outflow that has detached from its natal gas and is falling back toward the galaxy. This result, combined with a companion study (arXiv:2404.02212) tracing nebular emission which presumably cooled from the hot X-ray atmosphere, indicates that star formation is proceeding in a dynamically complex environment resulting from the central galaxy's motion with respect to the cooling clouds and motion induced by feedback from the central radio jets. In RX J0820.9+0752 intermediate age stars are found in a filament outside of the nucleus with no discernible star formation at the center of the galaxy. All projected galaxies are composed of old stellar populations with deep D4000 breaks and are devoid of detectable warm gas. While in some instances they may be interacting gravitationally with the central galaxy, they cannot have donated the upward of $10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ of molecular gas found in these systems.
title Star Formation Histories and Stellar Dynamics in the Central Galaxies of RX J0820.9+0752, A1835, and PKS 0745-191
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.01986