UV Signposts of Resonant Dynamics in Disk Galaxies

Abstract

Imaging in the restframe ultraviolet has proven to be an effective and vital means of tracing dynamical patterns of star formation in galaxies out to high redshifts. Using images from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and complementary groundbased telescopes, we have investigated the starburst activity and associated dynamics in nearby early-type disk galaxies. Concentrating on the starburst-ring (R)SA(r)ab galaxy M94 (NGC 4736), we find compelling evidence for bar-mediated resonances as the primary drivers of evolution at the present epoch. Similar ring-bar dynamics may prevail in the centers of early-type disk galaxies at high redshift. The gravitationally-lensed "Pretzel Galaxy" (0024+1654) at a redshift of ~1.5 provides an important precedent in this regard.