Star formation and TDGs in the debris of interacting systems

Star formation beyond the galaxy discs and the principles governing it have attracted a lot of recent attention and the advent of ultraviolet (UV) and mid-infrared (MIR) telescopes like the GALEX and Spitzer have enabled major advances in such studies. In order to study the HI gas properties such as the morphology, kinematics and column density distributions, and their correlation with the star forming zones, especially in the tidal bridges, tails and debris, we carried out an HI survey of a set of Spitzer-observed interacting systems using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). Here we present results from three of these systems, Arp86, Arp181 and Arp202. In Arp86, we detect excellent star-gas correlation in the star forming tidal bridges and tails. In Arp181, we find the two interacting galaxies to be highly gas depleted and the entire gas of the system is found in the form of a massive tidal debris about 70 kpc from the main galaxies. In all three cases, Arp86, Arp181 and Arp202, the tidal debris seem to host ongoing star formation. We also detect three new candidate tidal dwarf galaxies (TDG) in these systems with large quantities of gas associated with them.