Merger-triggered Star Formation: Where and How?

Galaxy interactions are often accompanied by an enhanced global star formation rate (SFR). The enhanced global SFR has been attributed to the formation of non-axisymmetric structures that torque significant amounts of gas into the central regions, initiating an intense nuclear starburst. Yet there is mounting evidence for extended starburst in interacting galaxies. 

The talk will show an empirical picture of the spatial extent of merger-triggered star formation as a function merger sequence using data from the integral field spectroscopy (IFS) survey MaNGA. In addition, we also investigate the molecular gas properties to better understand what causes the enhanced star formation in galaxy mergers. This is the first time that the spatial extent of merger-triggered star formation and the dependence of molecular gas properties on merger sequence/configurations are probed statistically with a relatively large sample and with a carefully-selected control sample for individual galaxies.