Program: GS-2012B-Q-60

Compact groups are great laboratories to study the effect of galaxy-galaxy interactions in the intragroup medium (IGM). We have started a program to search for star-forming objects in the IGM and in the tidal tails of interacting galaxies by using multiwavelength data (UV/GALEX, HI, Fabry-Perot and GMOS data). We already found several tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) and intergalactic HII regions (IHII) in the IGM of groups (de Mello et al. 2008,2012, Torres-Flores et al. 2009) and an inverted metallicity gradient in a merger remnant (Torres-Flores et al. 2012). In this proposal we will study the metallicity gradients in a sample of interacting galaxies in three compact groups of galaxies: Arp314, VV304 and NGC6845. All of them have tidal tails with several objects that are either IHII regions or TDGs candidates. We ask for GMOS time to obtain images/spectra of these candidates in order to obtain: their metallicities, their ages and the internal extinctions. This analysis will help us to determine if interacting galaxies present flat and/or inverted metallicity gradients, as has been suggested from simulations. Also, if a number of intragroup star-forming objects are confirmed, as we predict they will be, we will evaluate their role in enriching the IGM.