05/24/02
Duc Pierre-Alain CNRS et CEA Saclay
Service d'astrophysique, CEA Saclay, Orme des merisiers SF2A- PNC- PNG-
91191 Gif sur Yvette cedex, France
Presentation 1 : Invited
Recycling interstellar and intergalactic material
Pierre-Alain Duc
The presence in the intergalactic/intracluster medium of preprocessed material of galactic origin is now widely observed. Large quantities of atomic and molecular gas were recently detected outside galaxies in groups; surveys of planetary nebulae revealed that a significant fraction of the overall stellar component in clusters lies in the intracluster medium. Metallicity measurements indicate that the intergalactic medium both locally and and at high redshift is surprisingly polluted in heavy elements. The processes by which galaxies may loose material and feed the IGM are multiple and well known: starbursts and AGN driven outflows, dynamical removing by tidal forces or ram pressure. The fate of this expelled material has however been less studied. I will show that part of it may, under specific conditions, be recycled to form a new generation of galaxies.