Abstract
The far outer regions of galactic disks allow an important probe of both star formation and galaxy formation. I discuss how observations of HII regions in these low gas density, low metallicity environments can shed light on the physical processes which drive galactic star formation. The history of past star formation at large radii, as traced by observations of old and intermediate-age stars, constrains the epoch at which the highest angular momentum regions of disks were in place; first results for the M31 disk suggest this occured a significant (≳ 8 Gyr) time ago.
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Ferguson, A.M. Star Formation in the Outskirts of Disk Galaxies. Astrophysics and Space Science 281, 119–122 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019594017259
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019594017259