Optical Monitor Observations of Extended UV Disks

One of the early results from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) NearbyGalaxies Survey (NGS) is the discovery of conspicuous UV emission extendingsignificantly beyond the optical disks of some spiral galaxies, into regionswhere the gas density was believed to be too low to support star formation. Wepropose to use the high angular resolution and large FOV of the XMM OpticalMonitor to resolve the starforming regions responsible for this UV emission ina small sample of extended UV disk galaxies. The simultaneous Xray observationsmay provide valuable constraints on the mass function of the star clusters andprovide valuable insight into starforming processes at such low surfacedensities. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]