Star formation in hosts of young radio galaxies

Abstract

We present near ultraviolet imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys, targeting young radio galaxies (gigahertz peaked spectrum and compact steep spectrum sources), in search of star formation regions in their hosts. We find near UV light which could be the product of recent star formation in eight of the nine observed sources. However, observations at other wavelengths and colors are needed to definitively establish the nature of the observed UV light. In the CSS sources 1443+77 and 1814-637 the near UV light is aligned with and is co-spatial with the radio source, and we suggest that in these sources the UV light is produced by star formation triggered and/or enhanced by the radio source.