Previous
abstract 
Next
abstract
Session 109 - Galaxies: Collisions, Counter-Rotating Disks.
Display session, Thursday, January 18
North Banquet Hall, Convention Center
We present preliminary results from a spectroscopic survey of galaxies in the Bootes void. Preliminary indications suggest that two objects previously identified as void galaxies are actually pairs of merging galaxies. The two objects, 1510+4727 and 1517+3956, have similar morphology, each being asymmetric and having two distinct bright regions near the center.
For both systems, individual spectra were taken across each bright region and then compared. We observed a velocity difference of 570 \pm 90 km/sec between the two bright regions in 1517+3956 based on four emission lines. A velocity difference of 420 \pm 120 km/sec was observed between the two bright regions in 1510+4727 based on four emission lines.
Considering the unusual morphologies of these systems, as well as the systematic internal velocity differences, we conclude that the most likely explanation is these systems are merging galaxy pairs.
The observations for this project were made at the Mount Laguna Observatory, operated jointly by San Diego State University and the University of Illinois. This research has been supported in part by NASA through the Nevada Space Grant Consortium, and by the Theodore Dunham, Jr. grant from the Fund for Astrophysical Research.
