Speaker
Description
Neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) provides the gas reservoir that fuels star formation. Environmental mechanisms in galaxy clusters alter the fate of this gas, impacting the evolution of galaxies. These range from gravitational to hydrodynamical effects, which might in turn ignite or boost internal processes such as AGN and gravitational instabilities. MeerKAT HI and radio continuum data of the nearby Antlia cluster (d = 38 Mpc) offers the opportunity to explore in detail the distribution of the neutral atomic gas in and around galaxies. Furthermore, the unrelaxed nature of Antlia, and its connection to the Hydra cluster via a filamentary structure to the north presents unique circumstances to study galaxy evolution in the early stages of cluster formation. One remarkable example is the Seyfert II galaxy NGC3281, located at the north east part of Antlia, notable by its active nuclei and strong HI absorption. In this preliminary study, we look in detail at the HI emission and absorption of NGC3281 and its surroundings, in order to uncover its possible formation history, and provide insight about how the AGN present at the center of the galaxy may have been triggered and is interacting with its surrounding environment. Future studies will involve a detailed analysis on all the HI sources in Antlia as a whole to better characterize the different evolutionary mechanisms in the cluster’s galaxies.
