scholarly journals On the maintenance of spiral structure

1979 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 151-153
Author(s):  
James W-K. Mark ◽  
Linda Sugiyama ◽  
Robert H. Berman ◽  
Giuseppe Bertin

A concentrated nuclear bulge with about 30% of the galaxy mass is sufficient (Lin, 1975; Berman and Mark, 1978) to eliminate strong bar-forming instabilities which dominate the dynamics of the stellar disk. Weak bar-like or oval distortions might remain depending on the model. In such systems self-excited discrete modes give rise to global spiral patterns which are maintained in the presence of differential rotation and dissipation (cf. especially the spiral patterns in Bertin et al., 1977, 1978). These spiral modes are standing waves that are physically analyzable (Mark, 1977) into a superposition of two travelling waves propagating in opposite directions back and forth between galactic central regions and corotation (a resonator). Only a few discrete pattern frequencies are allowed. An interpretation is that the central regions and corotation radius must be sufficiently far apart so that a Bohr-Sommerfeld type of phase-integral condition is satisfied for the wave system of each mode. The temporal growth of these modes is mostly due to an effect of Wave Amplification by Stimulated Emission (of Rotating Spirals, abbrev. WASERS, cf. Mark 1976) which occurs in the vicinity of corotation. In some galaxies one mode might be predominent while other galaxies could exhibit more complicated spiral structure because several modes are present. Weak barlike or oval distortions hardly interfere with the structure of these modes. But they might nevertheless contribute partially towards strengthening the growth of one mode relative to another, as well as affecting the kinematics of the gaseous component.

1979 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 157-158
Author(s):  
D. Lynden-Bell

By considering the interaction of a single stellar orbit with a weak cos 2Φ potential it is shown that in the central regions of galaxies with slowly rising rotation curves, the elongations of the orbits will align along any potential valley and oscillate about it. This effect is more pronounced for elongated orbits. In such regions any pair of orbits will naturally align under their mutual gravity and so a bar will form. The gravity of this bar will drive a spiral structure in the outer parts of the galaxy where differential rotation is too strong to allow the orbits to be caught by the bar. The spiral structure carries a torque which slowly drains angular momentum from the bar, gradually making its outline more eccentric and slowing its pattern speed. In the outer parts of the bar only the more eccentric orbits align with the potential valley; the rounder ones form a ring or lens about the bar. As the pattern speed slows down, the corotation resonance and outer Lindblad resonance, which receive the angular momentun, move outwards. The evolution of the system is eventually slowed down by the weakness of these outer resonances where the material is rather sparse.


1967 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 313-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Lin ◽  
F. H. Shu

Density waves in the nature of those proposed by B. Lindblad are described by detailed mathematical analysis of collective modes in a disk-like stellar system. The treatment is centered around a hypothesis of quasi-stationary spiral structure. We examine (a) the mechanism for the maintenance of this spiral pattern, and (b) its consequences on the observable features of the galaxy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (2) ◽  
pp. 2446-2473
Author(s):  
Peter Erwin ◽  
Anil Seth ◽  
Victor P Debattista ◽  
Marja Seidel ◽  
Kianusch Mehrgan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present detailed morphological, photometric, and stellar-kinematic analyses of the central regions of two massive, early-type barred galaxies with nearly identical large-scale morphologies. Both have large, strong bars with prominent inner photometric excesses that we associate with boxy/peanut-shaped (B/P) bulges; the latter constitute ∼30 per cent of the galaxy light. Inside its B/P bulge, NGC 4608 has a compact, almost circular structure (half-light radius Re ≈ 310 pc, Sérsic n = 2.2) we identify as a classical bulge, amounting to 12.1 per cent of the total light, along with a nuclear star cluster (Re ∼ 4 pc). NGC 4643, in contrast, has a nuclear disc with an unusual broken-exponential surface-brightness profile (13.2 per cent of the light), and a very small spheroidal component (Re ≈ 35 pc, n = 1.6; 0.5 per cent of the light). IFU stellar kinematics support this picture, with NGC 4608’s classical bulge slowly rotating and dominated by high velocity dispersion, while NGC 4643’s nuclear disc shows a drop to lower dispersion, rapid rotation, V–h3 anticorrelation, and elevated h4. Both galaxies show at least some evidence for V–h3correlation in the bar (outside the respective classical bulge and nuclear disc), in agreement with model predictions. Standard two-component (bulge/disc) decompositions yield B/T ∼ 0.5–0.7 (and bulge n > 2) for both galaxies. This overestimates the true ‘spheroid’ components by factors of 4 (NGC 4608) and over 100 (NGC 4643), illustrating the perils of naive bulge-disc decompositions applied to massive barred galaxies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 601 ◽  
pp. A61 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. P. A. Vogt ◽  
E. Pérez ◽  
M. A. Dopita ◽  
L. Verdes-Montenegro ◽  
S. Borthakur

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S266) ◽  
pp. 366-366
Author(s):  
Jura Borissova ◽  
Radostin Kurtev ◽  
Margaret M. Hanson ◽  
Leonid Georgiev ◽  
Valentin Ivanov ◽  
...  

AbstractWe are reporting some recent results from our long-term program aimed at characterizing the obscured present-day star cluster population in the Galaxy. Our goal is to expand the current census of the Milky Way's inner stellar disk to guide models seeking to understand the structure and recent star-formation history of our Galaxy. The immediate goal is to derive accurate cluster physical parameters using precise infrared photometry and spectroscopy. So far, we observed approximately 60 star cluster candidates selected from different infrared catalogs. Their nature, reddening, distance, age and mass are analyzed. Two of them, Mercer 3 and Mercer 5, are new obscured Milky Way globular clusters. Among the newly identified open clusters, the objects [DBS2003] 179, Mercer 23, Mercer 30, Mercer 70, and [DBS2003] 106 are particularly interesting because they contain massive young OB and Wolf–Rayet stars with strong emission lines.


1983 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
Agris J. Kalnajs

Spiral structure is associated with a slow redistribution of gas, which may already be quite significant over time scales short compared to the age of the galaxy. One has to worry about replacing the gas in order to keep the structure alive.


1990 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 215-219
Author(s):  
Paul Goudfrooij ◽  
H.U. Nørgaard-Nielsen ◽  
H.E. Jørgensen ◽  
L. Hansen ◽  
T. de Jong

AbstractWe report the discovery of a large (15 kpc diameter) Hα+[NII] emission-line disk in the elliptical galaxy IC 1459, showing weak spiral structure. The line flux peaks strongly at the nucleus and is more concentrated than the stellar continuum. The major axis of the disk of ionized gas coincides with that of the stellar body of the galaxy. The mass of the ionized gas is estimated to be ~ 1 105 M⊙, less than 1% of the total mass of gas present in IC 1459. The total gas mass of 4 107 M⊙ has been estimated from the dust mass derived from a broad-band colour index image and the IRAS data. We speculate that the presence of dust and gas in IC 1459 is a signature of a merger event.


1996 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 253-255
Author(s):  
Wim van Driel ◽  
Pieter Mulder ◽  
Françoise Combes

AbstractWe studied the ringed RSab(r)-type spiral NGC 4736, which has a probably slightly oval disk and a very small bar. We mapped the galaxy in the HI and Hα spectral lines and we obtained long-slit optical spectra. These data were modeled using a 2-D gas dynamical code. The 2-D potential used is axisymmetric in the inner and outer regions and oval (b/a=0.8) at intermediate radii only. The oval component rotates at a pattern speed of 40 km s–1 kpc–1, close to the observed value. Inner and outer rings, like those observed, form at the inner and outer Lindblad resonances, though they co-exist only during a limited time interval in the simulations. The morphology and kinematics of the inner ring and spiral structure as observed in neutral and ionized hydrogen can be well understood in terms of gas dynamical simulations, given the form of the (stellar) potential. What remains to be explained is the origin of the nonaxisymmetric features in the mass distribution defining the potential.


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