A Spectacular Hα Complex in Virgo: Evidence for a Collision between M86 and NGC 4438 and Implications for the Collisional ISM Heating of Ellipticals

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dc.contributor.authorKenney, Jeffrey D. P.
dc.contributor.authorTal, Tomer
dc.contributor.authorCrowl, Hugh H.
dc.contributor.authorFeldmeier, John
dc.contributor.authorJacoby, George H.
dc.date.accessioned2016-10-25T19:23:30Z
dc.date.available2016-10-25T19:23:30Z
dc.date.issued2008-10
dc.description.abstractDeep wide-field Hα+[N II] imaging around the Virgo Cluster giant elliptical galaxy M86 reveals a highly complex and disturbed ISM/ICM. The most striking feature is a set of Hα filaments which clearly connect M86 with the nearby disturbed spiral NGC 4438 (23' = 120 kpc projected away), providing strong evidence for a previously unrecognized collision between them. Spectroscopy of selected regions shows a fairly smooth velocity gradient between M86 and NGC 4438, consistent with the collision scenario. Such a collision would impart significant energy into the ISM of M86, probably heating the gas and acting to prevent the gas from cooling to form stars. We propose that cool gas stripped from NGC 4438 during the collision and deposited in its wake is heated by shocks, ram pressure drag, or thermal conduction, producing most of the Hα filaments. Some Hα filaments are associated with the well-known ridge of bright X-ray emission to the NW of the nucleus, suggesting that the collision is responsible for peculiarities of M86 previously ascribed to other effects. M86 is radio-quiet; thus AGN heating is unlikely to play a significant role. The M86 system has implications for understanding the role of gravitational interactions in the heating of the ISM in ellipticals, and how collisions in clusters transform galaxies.en_US
dc.identifier.citationThe Astrophysical Journal, 687: L69–L74, 2008 November 10en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11209/10506
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherThe American Astronomical Societyen_US
dc.subjectCooling flowsen_US
dc.subjectGalaxies -- elliptical and lenticularen_US
dc.subjectGalaxies -- clusters -- individual (Virgo)en_US
dc.subjectcDen_US
dc.subjectGalaxies -- evolutionen_US
dc.subjectGalaxies -- interactionsen_US
dc.subjectGalaxies -- ISMen_US
dc.titleA Spectacular Hα Complex in Virgo: Evidence for a Collision between M86 and NGC 4438 and Implications for the Collisional ISM Heating of Ellipticalsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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