We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the members of three previously cataloged compact group (CG) candidatesat redshifts $z>0.3$. These confirm spectroscopic redshifts compatiblewith being gravitationally bound structures at redshifts 0.3112, 0.3848and 0.3643 respectively, and then they are the most distant CGs known with spectroscopic confirmation for all their members. The morphological and spectroscopic properties of all their galaxies indicate early types dominated by an old population of stars, with little star formation or nuclear activity. Most of the physical properties derived for the three groups are quite similar to the average properties of CGs at lower redshifts. In particular, from the velocities and positions of the respective members of each CG, we estimate short dynamic times. These leave open the questions of identifying the mechanism for forming CGs continuously and the nature of the final stages of these structures.
Advertised on
References
It may interest you
-
Stellar ages are key to several fields of astrophysics such as exoplanet research, galactic-archeology, and of course stellar physics. Obtaining the ages of stars is however not straightforward and requires stellar modeling. The most widely used technique only requires stellar colors or temperature and surface gravity, but the uncertainties are quite large. This technique is most efficient for stars belonging to clusters, as they were born from the same molecular cloud and share the same ages. In the last decades, based on the study of stellar acoustic waves, asteroseismology became the mostAdvertised on
-
The transient Swift J1727.8-162 is the latest member of the X-ray binary black hole family to be discovered. They are formed by a black hole and a low-mass star whose gas is stripped off and accreted to the black hole via an accretion disc. The high temperature of the accretion disc makes it shine in all energy bands up to X-rays, and is particularly bright during epochs known as outbursts. In this novel study, published just a few months after the discovery of the system, we present 20 epochs of optical spectroscopy obtained with the GTC-10.4m telescope. The spectra cover the main accretionAdvertised on
-
CaII Kgrains, i.e., intermittent, short-lived (about 1 minute), periodic (2-4 minutes), pointlike chromospheric brightenings, are considered to be the manifestations of acoustic waves propagating upward from the solar surface and developing into shocks in the chromosphere. After the simulations of Carlsson and Stein, we know that hot shocked gas moving upward interacting with the downflowing chromospheric gas (falling down after having been displaced upward by a previous shock) nicely reproduces the spectral features of the CaII K profiles observed in such grains, i.e., a narrowband emissionAdvertised on