The Taffy galaxy pair: optical and radio characterization of an interacting system

SAPONARA, JULIANA; SMITH CASTELLI, ANALIA V.; FAIFER, FAVIO R.; ESCUDERO, CARLOS G.; MENDES DE OLIVEIRA, CLAUDIA; KRABBE, ANGELA

Córdoba

Congreso; 63° Reunión Anual Asociación Argentina de Astronomía; 2021

Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba

The Taffy galaxy pair UGC 12915/4 constitutes an excellent example of an ongoing major gas-rich merger. Evidence suggests that the two galaxies experienced a head-on collision 25 − 30 Myr ago that raised an atomic and molecular gas bridge connecting both galaxies. This system has been poorly studied in the optical and near-infrared. Therefore, we observe the whole Taffy system with Gemini-North in g′, r′, i′, z′, Halpha, and HalphaC bands. We aim to characterise the optical counterparts of several Ultra Luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), detect star clusters, extragalactic star-forming regions, and identify low-mass galaxies of tidal origin. We expect that this additional information will help to better understand the physical processes involved in galaxy interactions.