Probing the nature of the pre-merging system Hickson Compact Group 31
  through IFU data
  We present a study of the kinematics and the physical properties of the
central region of the Hickson Compact Group 31 (HCG 31), focusing on the HCG
31A+C system, using integral field spectroscopy data taken with the
Gemini-south telescope. The main players in the merging event (galaxies A and
C) are two dwarf galaxies that in the past have already had one close
encounter, given the observed tidal tails, and may now be in their second
approach, possibly about to merge. We present new velocity fields and H{\alpha}
emission, stellar continuum, velocity dispersion, electron density, H{\alpha}
equivalent width and age maps. Considering the high spatial resolution of the
IFU data, we were able to measure various components and estimate their
physical parameters, spatially resolving the different structures in this
region. Our main findings are the following: (1) we report for the first time
the presence of a super stellar cluster next to the burst associated to the HCG
31C central blob, related to the high values of velocity dispersion observed in
this region as well as to the highest value of stellar continuum emission. This
may suggest that this system is cleaning its environment through strong stellar
winds that may then trigger a strong star formation event in its neighborhood,
(2) among other physical parameters, we estimate an L(H{\alpha})~14x10^{41}
erg/s and a SFR~11 Msol/yr for the central merging region of HCG 31 A+C. These
values indicate a high star formation density, suggesting that the system is
part of a merging object, supporting previous scenarios proposed for this
system.
