AAS 201st Meeting, January, 2003
Session 52. Galaxy Evolution and Surveys: Observations and Interpretation
Poster, Tuesday, January 7, 2003, 9:20am-6:30pm, Exhibit Hall AB

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[52.09] Properties of Merging Pairs in the SDSS EDR

S. S. Allam, D. L. Tucker (Fermilab), J. A. Smith (U Wyoming)

A sample of 1479 faint (g*<21.0) merging galaxies, separated by less than 5.24'', is selected through an automated systematic search from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS EDR, Stoughton et al.\ 2002) photometric data which cover a total area of \approx462 deg2.

The color of the galaxies indicates recently enhanced star formation; the general distribution of the colors and size of the merging galaxies are significantly different from that of field galaxy sample.

For a sub-sample of 680 galaxies with redshift information we used the H\alpha emission line to derive the star formation rate and compare it with that of the field. An enhanced star formation rate is found relative to the field.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: sallam@fnal.gov, dtucker@fnal.gov

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© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.