Massive star formation within the Leo ‘primordial’ ring

David A. Thilker (), Jennifer Donovan, David Schiminovich, Luciana Bianchi, Samuel Boissier, Armando Gil de Paz, Barry F. Madore, D. Christopher Martin and Mark Seibert
Additional contact information
David A. Thilker: Center for Astrophysical Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
Jennifer Donovan: Columbia University, Pupin Physics Laboratories, Mail Code 5246, 550 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, USA
David Schiminovich: Columbia University, Pupin Physics Laboratories, Mail Code 5246, 550 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, USA
Luciana Bianchi: Center for Astrophysical Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
Samuel Boissier: Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, BP 8, Traverse du Siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12, France
Armando Gil de Paz: Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Barry F. Madore: Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, California 91101, USA
D. Christopher Martin: California Institute of Technology, MC 405-47, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
Mark Seibert: Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, California 91101, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 457, issue 7232, 990-993

Abstract: Stars of the Leo ring A massive ring of neutral hydrogen (H i) was detected during radio observations in the 1980s, orbiting the M105 and NGC 3384 galaxies in the constellation Leo. Called the Leo ring, it remains a mysterious structure, thought to be a remnant primordial cloud left over from when the Leo I group galaxies formed. Until now the Leo ring has been detected only in the radio region of the spectrum (H i emission), suggesting an absence of stars. Now observations from the GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) orbiting space telescope have detected ultraviolet light originating from parts of the ring, indicating recent massive star formation in substructures. If such structures were common in the early Universe, they may have produced a large, as yet undetected population of faint, metal-poor, halo-lacking dwarf galaxies.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07780

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