AAS 195th Meeting, January 2000
Session 47. Open Clusters, Hot Stars, and Cluster Formation in Tidal Tails
Display, Thursday, January 13, 2000, 9:20am-6:30pm, Grand Hall

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[47.13] HST Imaging of Massive Stellar Clusters in Stephan's Quintet

S. D. Hunsberger (Lowell), S. C. Gallagher, J. C. Charlton (PSU), D. Zaritsky (Arizona)

We present HST WFPC2 images in three filters (F450W, F569W, and F814W) of Stephan's Quintet. Within the tidal features of three interacting galaxies, previous R-band and H\alpha imaging (obtained at Palomar) revealed several stellar clumps that appear to be massive star-forming regions and possibly ``tidal'' dwarf galaxies. Using the HST images, we determine the colors and surface brightness profiles of these star clusters to constrain their stellar populations and formation history. We also resolve sub-structure and identify star-forming regions within tidal dwarf candidates.

A similar analysis is performed on all faint, extended objects throughout the group, although we do not have complete membership identifications. A particularly intriguing result is the presence of a very red galaxy population near a large tidal tail. We discuss whether this is a coincidental enhancement of the higher redshift background galaxies or a result of giant galaxy interactions.


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