Evidence for shock-heated gas in the Taffy Galaxies and Bridge from
  Optical Emission-Line IFU spectroscopy
  We present optical IFU observations of the Taffy system (UGC 12914/15); named
for the radio emission that stretches between the two galaxies. Given that
these gas rich galaxies are believed to have recently collided head-on, the
pair exhibits a surprisingly normal total (sub-LIRG) IR luminosity
($\mathrm{L_{FIR} \sim 4.5 \times 10^{10}}$ L$_\odot$). Previous observations
have demonstrated that a large quantity of molecular and neutral gas have been
drawn out of the galaxies into a massive multi-phase bridge. We present, for
the first time, spatially resolved spectroscopy of the ionized gas in the
system. The results show that the ionized gas is highly disturbed
kinematically, with gas spread in two main filaments between the two galaxies.
The line profiles exhibit widespread double components in both the bridge and
parts of the disks of the galaxies. We investigate the spatial distribution of
the excitation properties of the ionized gas using emission-line diagnostic
diagrams, and conclude that large quantities (up to 40$\%$) of the emission
from the entire system is consistent with gas heated in $\sim$200 \kms\ shocks.
While the shocked gas is mainly associated with the bridge, there is a
significant amount of shocked gas associated with both galaxies. Confirming
other multi-wavelength indicators, the results suggest that the effects of
shocks and turbulence can continue to be felt in a high-speed galaxy collision
long after the collision has occurred. The persistence of shocks in the Taffy
system may explain the relatively low current star formation rates in the
system as a whole.
