Abstract
IT has long been recognized that interactions between galaxies are important in determining their evolution. The distribution of gas—out of which new stars are formed—is strongly affected; in particular, gas may be concentrated near the nucleus, leading to a burst of star formation1–4. Here we present a map of atomic hydrogen (H I) in the nearest interacting group of galaxies (that dominated by M81), obtained by combining 12 separate fields observed with the Very Large Array. The H i that surrounds M81, M82 and NGC3077 (the most prominent galaxies in the group) is dominated by filamentary structures, clearly demonstrating the violent disruption of this system by tidal interactions. These observations should have detected all H I complexes more massive than 106 solar masses, meaning that our map contains all structures that might evolve into new dwarf galaxies.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sanders, D. B. et al. Astrophys. J. 325, 74–91 (1988).
Scoville, N. Z. & Soifer, B. T. Massive Stars and Starburst (ed. K.Leitherer) 233–252 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991).
Barnes, J. E. Astrophys. J. 331, 669–717 (1988).
Barnes, J. E. & Hernquist, L. E. Astrophys. J. 370, L65–L69 (1991).
Freedman, W. L. et al. Astrophys. J. 427, 628–655 (1994).
Visser, H. C. D. Structure and Properties of Nearby Galaxies (eds Berkhuijsen E. M. & Wielebinski, R.) 105–112 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1978).
Peimbert, N. & Torres-Peimbert, S. Astrophys. J. 245, 845–856 (1981).
Wisniewski, W. Z. & Kleinmann, D. E. Astr. J. 73, 866–867 (1968).
Rieke G. H., Lebofsky, M. J., Thompson, R. I., Low, F. J. & Tokunaga, A. T. Astrophys. J. 238, 24–40 (1980).
Roberts, M. S. External Galaxies and Quasi Stellar Objects (ed. Evans, D. S.) 12–36 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1972).
Cottrell, G. A. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 178, 577–589 (1977).
Gottesman, S. T. & Weliachew, L. Astrophys. J. 211, 47–61 (1977).
van der Hulst, J. M. Astr. Astrophys. 75, 97–111 (1979).
Rots, A. H. Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 41, 189–209 (1980).
Appleton, P. N., Davies, R. D. & Stephenson, R. J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 195, 327–352 (1981).
Cottrell, G. A. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 174, 455–466 (1976).
Yun, M. S., Ho, P. T. P. & Lo K. Y. Astrophys. J. 411, L17–L20 (1993).
Kent, S. M. Astr. J. 93, 816–832 (1987).
Gottesman, S. T. & Weliachew, L. Astrophys. J. 195, 23–45 (1975).
Lin, C. C., Yuan, C. & Shu, F. H. Astrophys. J. 155, 721–746 (1969).
Rots, A. H. Astr. Astrophys. 45, 43–55 (1975).
Toomre, A. & Toomre, J. Astrophys. J. 178, 623–666 (1972).
Rots, A. H. & Shane, W. W. Astr. Astrophys. 45, 25–42 (1975).
Appleton, P. N. & van der Hulst, J. M. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 234, 957–969 (1988).
Brouillet, N., Henkel, C. & Baudry, A. Astr. Astrophys. 262, L5–L8 (1992).
Arp, H. Science 148, 363–364 (1965).
Hibbard, J. E., Guhathakurta, P., van Gorkom, J. H. & Schweizer, F. Astr. J. 107, 67–89 (1994).
Demoulin, M. Astrophys. J. 157, 81–85 (1960).
Barbieri, C., Bertola, F. & di Tullio, G. Astr. Astrophys. 35, 463–466 (1974).
Price, J. S. & Gullixson, C. A. Astrophys. J. 337, 658–670 (1989).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yun, M., Ho, P. & Lo, K. A high-resolution image of atomic hydrogen in the M81 group of galaxies. Nature 372, 530–532 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/372530a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/372530a0
This article is cited by
-
Scientific objectives of the Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor (HUBS) mission
Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy (2023)
-
Detection of companion galaxies around hot dust-obscured hyper-luminous galaxy W0410-0913
Nature Communications (2022)
-
A 0.6 Mpc H i structure associated with Stephan’s Quintet
Nature (2022)
-
Probing galaxy evolution through Hi 21-cm emission and absorption: current status and prospects with square kilometre array
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (2022)
-
Feyerabend’s rule and dark matter
Synthese (2021)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.