Issue |
Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser.
Volume 129, Number 3, May I 1998
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 517 - 540 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/aas:1998401 | |
Published online | 15 May 1998 |
BVRI imaging of M51-type interacting galaxy pairs
I. Data reductions
1
Division of Astronomy, University of Oulu, PL 333 90571 Oulu, Finland
2
Instituto de Astronomia, UNAM, Apartado Postal 70-264, Mexico
3
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea, E-38200 La Laguna Tenerife, Spain
Send offprint request to: E. Laurikainen
Received:
31
January
1997
Accepted:
18
September
1997
Deep broad-band BVRI photometry of a sample of 22 closely
interacting isolated galaxy pairs is presented. The sample
consists of pairs with a large variety of orbital geometries,
but most of them are M51-type pairs: a small companion in the
vicinity of a prominent two-armed spiral. This subsample will
be later modelled in detail with N-body simulations. Nine of
the thirteen M51-type pairs show enhanced star formation
in the central regions of the companions, detected in or
color maps, and only one pair in the nucleus of
the main galaxy. This is expected if there is mass transfer
from the main galaxy to the companion. Some pairs with larger
separation, and with more massive companions show global
instabilities manifesting as strong color gradients at least
in one of the members.
Key words: galaxies: photometry / galaxies: interactions
© European Southern Observatory (ESO), 1998