IPAC Astronomy Lunch Seminar

Understanding the evolution of galaxies from starforming blue cloud objects into quiescent red sequence galaxies has been revolutionized by observations taken with the Herschel Space Observatory, allowing astronomers to probe both the cold dust as well as the cool ISM in a large set of galaxies, with unprecedented sensitivity. Recent Herschel observations of [C II], a known tracer of star formation, in Hickson Compact Groups of galaxies (HCGs) has shown that [C II] can also be highly excited in shocks. CARMA CO observations of these [C II]-bright HCGs therefore shed light on the impact of shocks on the excitation of the ISM, as well as the starforming (molecular) material. I will present preliminary results from our Herschel-CARMA combined observations of HCGs, which are able to tell us about the synergistic relationships between shocks, star formation and the cool ISM in the context of galaxy evolution.