AAS 196th Meeting, June 2000
Session 29. Dwarf Galaxies, Galaxy Structure and Kinematics
Display, Tuesday, June 6, 2000, 10:00am-6:30pm, Empire Hall South

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[29.12] Core Kinematics in the Starburst-Ring Sab Galaxy NGC 4736

E. J. Murphy, W. H. Waller (Tufts University), J. D. P. Kenney (Yale University)

NGC 4736 (M94) is notable as the nearest early-type spiral galaxy of low inclination, and as the nearest example of a starbursting resonance-ring system. Interior to its inner star-forming ring is a luminous core containing a mix of old red stars and young UV-bright stars. Early long-slit spectroscopy revealed unusually high rotation speeds relative to the velocity dispersions, prompting Kormendy (1982) to describe the core as the innermost part of the disk, rather than the densest part of the spheroid (ie. the classic ``bulge''). Using the WIYN 3.5-m telescope, DensePak fiber array, and Bench spectrograph, we have carried out integral field spectroscopy of the central 45'' \times 30'' (1.0 kpc \times 0.7 kpc) in M94. Our kinematic mapping confirms the earlier claims of high rotation velocities relative to the velocity dispersions. Rotation curves of the stars and CO gas (from a recent interferometric mapping by Wong and Blitz [2000]) show the stars rotating slower by ~20--35 km/sec relative to the gas. Plans for analyzing the stellar kinematics as a function of stellar type (and corresponding age) are described.


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