Interactions and mergers play an important role in the evolution of galaxy systems, with very few systems thought to exist that have not been shaped or formed through a collision or interaction with another galaxy. One of the main areas of contention in this field is the formation of elliptical galaxies, with one theory predicting that some of these systems form through the merger of two spiral galaxies. To test the validity of this theory, merging systems at different stages of evolution must be observed, to determine the nature of these interactions as these systems evolve. Here, we present a sample of merging galaxy systems, observed with the Chandra X-ray observatory. These systems have been ordered in a chronological sequence, to represent the evolution of a pair of merging galaxies. In this thesis, we first look at an early stage merger pair, charactering both the system's point source population and the nature of its hot diffuse gas. This galaxy pair is then included in the merger sample we compile; starting with systems in their first perigalactic passage, through to systems at the stage of nuclear coalescence, and we finally present relaxed merger remnant systems, with the oldest thought to be rv 3 Gyr after coalescence has taken place. In the final chapter, an analysis of the radio galaxy Centaurus A, as observed by Chandra, is presented. This galaxy is a system that has recently undergone a minor merger, and, as a consequence of this, has heavy dust lanes crossing the nucleus of the galaxy. In this work, the hot diffuse gas in the system is investigated, and compared to the complex regions of dust obscuration, therefore providing information on correlations between X-ray properties of the ISM and these optically extinct regions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:575164 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Brassington, Nicola Jane |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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