2008/03/25 by T. J. Davidge
Physics and Astronomy · #Arc (geometry) #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Geometry #Halo #Metallicity #Physics #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/588551
11 pages including 3 postscript figures; accepted for publication in ApJ (Letters)
arxiv created 2008/03/25 · openalex publication_date 2008/04/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The properties of the brightest resolved stars in an arc that was originally identified by Sun et al. and is located in the extraplanar regions of M82 are discussed. The stars form an elongated structure that is traced over a projected area of 3.0 × 0.8 kpc 2 . The integrated brightness is M V ∼ − 11, while the total stellar mass is between 3 × 10 5 and 2 × 10 6 M ☉ . If there is only foreground extinction then the youngest stars have a metallicity Z ⩾ 0.008 and an age log( t yr ) ∼ 7.75; thus, the youngest stars formed at roughly the same time as stars in tidal features that are associated with other M81 Group galaxies. If the arc disperses then it will deposit young, chemically enriched stars into the M82 halo.