Jet-induced star formation in centaurus A

Jeremy R. Mould*, Alex Ridgewell, John S. Gallagher, Michael S. Bessell, Stefan Keller, Daniela Calzetti, John T. Clarke, John T. Trauger, Carl Grillmair, Gilda E. Ballester, Christopher J. Burrows, John Krist, David Crisp, Robin Evans, Richard Griffiths, J. Jeff Hester, John G. Hoessel, Jon A. Holtzman, Paul A. Scowen, Karl R. StapelfeldtRagvendra Sahai, Alan Watson, Vicki Meadows

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

66 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The inner part of the northeast middle radio lobe of the radio galaxy Centaurus A is the site of complex interactions. This area contains a large H I cloud as well as filaments of ionized gas and associated blue knots, several of which exist along the northeastern edge of the radio-emitting zones. We observed the filaments and blue knots with the Hubble Space Telescope using WFPC2, and the ionized gas from the ground. Our sensitive, high angular resolution WFPC2 images reveal the presence of young stars, many concentrated in what appear to be OB associations, superimposed on a background sheet of older stars that is typical of the Cen A halo. The ages of the OB associations are estimated to be less than 15 Myr from a comparison of color-magnitude diagrams with those for the Large Magellanic Cloud star cluster NGC 2004, and younger stellar groups may be nearer regions of Hα emission. We discuss our data in the context of models for star formation stimulated by interactions between the radio jet and gas cloud.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)266-276
Number of pages11
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume536
Issue number1 PART 1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jun 2000

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