AAS 197, January 2001
Session 78. Nearby Galaxies I
Display, Wednesday, January 10, 2001, 9:30am-7:00pm, Exhibit Hall

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[78.09] Imaging And Spectrophotometric Studies of A "Pure" Post-Starburst Galaxy

C. T. Liu (American Museum of Natural History)

Detailed spectrophotometry, broad-band imaging and low-resolution two-dimensional spectroscopy of the very luminous "E+A" galaxy discovered by Oegerle, Hill & Hoessel (1991, ApJ, 381, L9) is presented. Among other characteristics, this galaxy has no detectable ongoing star formation; its surface brightness profile follows an r1/4 law, yet it has a faint tidal tail; and its spectral energy distribution can be fit almost perfectly from 3000 Åto 10,000 Åby a pure, 109 year old post-starburst stellar population model. This remarkable galaxy may exemplify the tail end of the Toomre sequence -- the last link in the chain between merging, star-forming spiral galaxies and a single quiescent elliptical.


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