Abstract
Numerical experiments undertaken to investigate the longevity and behavior of dark-lane elliptical galaxies are described. This is dynamically the same problem as a disk galaxy in a massive halo. Spiral galaxies are disks from a dynamical point of view. A disk of particles embedded in a self-consistent galaxy provides the basic model used for the experiments. This model is applicable to ordinary disk galaxies if the disk is interpreted as the visible galaxy and the “galaxy” is interpreted as the massive halo thought to be present around disk galaxies. Fully three-dimensional fully self-consistentn-body computer programs that can handle 100,000 particles are used for the experiments. The background galaxy is oblate, and the disk is inclined to the axis of the oblate galaxy, so the disk precesses differentially to produce a warp. A surprising result is that the galaxy center shifted, leaving the disk center orbiting around the galaxy center. This produces interesting phenomena reminiscent of observations in the region of the Galactic center.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brown, R. L., and Liszt, H. S. 1984,Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics,22, 223.
Kotanyi, C. G., and Ekers, R. D. 1979,Astronomy, & Astrophysics,73, L1.
Miller, R. H. 1978,Astrophysical Journal,223, 122, Fiche 67-C12.
Rubin, V. C., Burstein, D., Ford, W. K., and Thonnard, N. 1985,Astrophysical Journal,289, 81, Fiche 13-G3.
Sparke, L. S. 1984,Astrophysical Journal,280, 117, Fiche 50-C8.
Toomre, A., 1983, inProceedings of IAU Symposium 100, Internal Kinematics and Dynamics of Galaxies, ed. E. Athanassoula (Dordrecht: Reidel) pp. 177–186.
Tubbs, A. D. 1980,Astrophysical Journal,241, 969, Fiche 110-C7.
van Albada, T. S., Kotanyi, C. G., and Schwarzschild, M. 1982,Monthly Notices Roy.Astr. Soc. 198, 303.
Wilkinson, A., Sharples, R. M. Fosbury, R. A. E., and Wallace, P. T., 1985, preprint, STELLAR DYNAMICS OF CEN A.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miller, R.H. Recent investigations on disk galaxies in massive halos. Celestial Mechanics 37, 307–324 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02285055
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02285055