Abstract
Regions in disk galaxies where one would expect to find chaotic behavior are likely to be associated with major stellar resonances such as the co-rotation. The possible identification of such locations in real galaxies is illustrated by examples of four spiral galaxies observed in the K band. Observational issues related to the detection of chaotic regions are discussed. Although surface photometry may suggest chaotic regions, it is essential to compare detailed velocity profiles with dynamic models to estimate the probability of such claims. Finally, the feasibility of performing observations of chaos with current state-of-the-art facilities such as the VLT is considered. It is found that it should be possible down to a surface brightness level of I ≈ 20 mag/arcsec2 corresponding to the end of bars in typical disk galaxies whereas access to detailed studies of chaos in the main spiral pattern would require more powerful facilities.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Grosbøl, P. (2003). Observing Chaos in Disk Galaxies. In: Contopoulos, G., Voglis, N. (eds) Galaxies and Chaos. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 626. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-45040-5_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-45040-5_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-40470-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45040-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive