``The Antennae'' (NGC 4038/39)

• Gordon, S., Koribalski, B.S., Jones, K. 2001, MNRAS 326, 578
  HI Observations of Interacting Galaxy Pair NGC 4038/9
  

  Abstract. We present the results of new radio interferometer HI line observations for the merging galaxy pair NGC 4038/9 (`The Antennae'), obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The results improve substantially with respect to those of van der Hulst and show in detail the two merging galactic discs and the two tidal tails produced by their interaction. The small edge-on spiral dwarf galaxy ESO 572-G045 is also seen near the tip of the southern tail, but distinct from it. It shows no signs of tidal interaction. The northern tidal tail of the Antennae shows no HI connection to the discs and has an extension towards the west. The southern tidal tail is continuous, with a prominent HI concentration at its tip, roughly at the location of the tidal dwarf galaxy observed optically by Mirabel, Dottori & Lutz. Clear velocity structure is seen along the tidal tails and in the galactic discs. Radio continuum images at 20 and 13cm are also presented, showing the discs in detail.

• Other Neutral Hydrogen Observations:

  • WSRT (van der Hulst 1979)

  • VLA C- and D-array (Mahoney et al. 1983)

  • VLA C- and D-array (Hibbard, van der Hulst, Barnes, Rich 2001, AJ 122, 2969 )

• Recent ALMA images

• Optical images obtained from the Digitized Sky Survey (see below)

• Optical image of the central disks taken with the 4-m AAT by Dave Malin (AAO)

• Recent optical CCD image of the central disks taken with the 4-m AAT by Steve Lee and Dave Malin (AAO)

• HST Press Release (21/10/97)

• HI/opt/NIR overlays of NGC4038/39 (by P. Duc and J. Hibbard)

• KAO infrared images and other overlays of NGC4038/39 (by R. Evans, A. Harper, and G. Helou)

• Astronomy Picture of the day ( 27/10/97, 22/10/97, 2/6/97, 6/5/97)

• A 13-cm radio image of the central disks taken with the ATCA by B. Koribalski

• 15 micron image of the central disks taken with the ISO Camera (ESA)

• Movies of Colliding Galaxies (by Mihos & Hernquist)

• Fabry-Perot Images of Interacting Galaxies (by Mihos)

• Radio Observations:

  • ATCA: preliminary results of radio continuum observations at 20, 13, 6, and 3-cm
    by Gordon, Koribalski, Jones (1997, ATNF Newsletter). A brief description is given here.

• Related work:

  • Ultraluminous Starbursts in Major Mergers
    by J. Christopher Mihos & Lars Hernquist

  • HI for Systems in the Toomre Sequence by John Hibbard

  • Fate of Gas in Interacting Galaxies by John Hibbard

Optical image of "The Antennae"

Deep optical image of "The Antennae"