HST Observations of Young Star Clusters in Interacting Galaxies

Abstract

We present early results from the analysis of HST imaging observations for several pairs of interacting galaxies. We include two cases that were specifically chosen to represent a strong early (young) encounter (Arp 81 = NGC 6621/6622) and a weak late (old) encounter (Arp 297 = NGC 5752/5754). The goals of the project include a determination of the timing, frequency, strength, and characteristics of the young star clusters formed in these two limiting cases of tidal encounters.

3 pages. To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium 207 "Extragalactic Star Clusters", edited by E. Grebel, D. Geisler, and D. Minniti. Uses IAU207_pasp.sty. Added one more page of material (5/10/01)