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E. H. Wehner, J. S. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin - Madison), U. Fritze-v. Alvensleben, P. Papaderos (Universitäts-Sternwarte Göttingen)
NGC 3310 is a spiral galaxy undergoing an intense phase of global star formation. This starburst phase appears to have been induced by a collision with a companion galaxy, although the type of companion has not yet been determined. To investigate the origins of this system's tidal debris and the nature of the merging companion, we have undertaken a detailed photometric study of NGC 3310 and its surrounding stellar debris. In this paper we present our photometric results and discuss the implications of the unusually blue colors seen in the outer regions of NGC 3310. We also present our comparison of these colors with spectral synthesis models and show how they can be fit by combining an underlying disk model of constant star formation with a starburst represented by a simple stellar population. We have also explored various techniques for modeling and subtracting the underlying disk in NGC 3310 to isolate the regions of stellar debris, and find that the disk can be well modeled by using less perturbed regions to represent the disk.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.