In NGC 3921, we have discovered over 100 new young clusters. There are two reasons to believe that all these young clusters formed from GMCs in the merging spiral galaxies. First, in all three galaxies (N4038/39, N7252, N3921) the young clusters show same, characteristic luminosity distribution: For every very luminous cluster, there are 10 times as many clusters that are 3 times fainter, and 100 times as many clusters that are 10 times fainter. This characteristic distribution is very similar to that of GMCs in nearby galaxies, where for every very massive GMC there are 10 GMCs one-third as massive and about 100 GMCs one-tenth as massive. Also, GMCs contain about 100,000 times to about 10 million times as much mass as our sun, a range of masses nearly identical to that of globular star clusters. Second, our observations of the two more advanced merger galaxies with Hubble show that the newly-borne clusters in them have the same spatial distribution as the stars. (Explain violent relaxation, why GMCs would experience same fluctuating gravitational field during the mergers as the stars do, and thus end up with same spatial distribution; etc)
Credits
Credit: B. Whitmore (STScI)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NGC 3921 |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
