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Collisions of galaxies of different masses, forms and sizes

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Abstract

We study the tidal effects of close collisions between two spherical galaxies of various mass and mass distributions by numerical simulations. The galaxies are represented by polytropes of indices n=4 and n=0 which denote cases of highcentral concentration and uniform mass distribution respectively.The initial relative velocity of the galaxies is chosen to be 700 km s-1.The results indicate that the tidal effects are quite sensitive to both mass and mass distribution of the galaxies. The dependence oftidal capture and tidal disruption on the choice of the model and mass ratio is investigated. The classification of collisionis given for each simulation. The results also indicate that in a collision between two identical galaxies relatively more spin is imparted to the galaxies ifthey are centrally concentrated than if they are homogeneous.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, 560034, India

    P.M.S. Namboodiri

  2. Department of Astronomy, Osmania University, Hyderabad, 500007, India

    K.S. Sastry

  3. Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, 411007, India

    K.S.V.S. Narasimhan

Authors
  1. P.M.S. Namboodiri
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  2. K.S. Sastry
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  3. K.S.V.S. Narasimhan
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Namboodiri, P., Sastry, K. & Narasimhan, K. Collisions of galaxies of different masses, forms and sizes. Astrophysics and Space Science 275, 463–477 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002824825576

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002824825576

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