Dynamical friction and the escape of a compact supermassive object shot from the center of a galaxy

A numerical study has been made of the motion of a compact object consisting of a supermassive black hole with a dense cluster of stars around through a galaxy which has recoiled from the center of the latter as a result of anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation or asymmetrical plasma emission. We find that the effect of dynamical friction on its motion through the galaxy (mass10¹¹ M ) estimated using the impulsive approximation technique, is minimal for an object mass 10⁹ M and for recoil taking place at a velocity larger than that of escape. A velocity 1.1 times the escape velocity is needed for the object to escape from the galaxy, whereas for velocities of recoil less than this critical velocity, damped oscillatory motion ensures. The energy exchange of the object with the galaxy is not large enough to cause appreciable change in the internal energy of the latter.     

Effect of dynamical friction on the escape of a supermassive black hole from a Galaxy

We have used the impulsive approximation technique to numerically estimate the effect of dynamical friction on the motion of a supermassive black hole (mass 10⁹ M ) through a galaxy (mass=10¹¹ M ) which has recoiled from the center of the latter as a result of anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation or asymmetric plasma emission. We find the effect to be minimal for recoil taking place at a velocity larger than that of escape at the center of the galaxy. There is a certain critical velocity of ejection (slightly larger than the central escape velocity) at which the black hole must be ejected for the recoil to be successful. Otherwise, dynamical friction becomes relatively pronounced and damped oscillatory motion of the black hole in the potential well of the galaxy ensues. The phenomenon of high-velocity recoil although rare, can be astrophysically spectacular in view of the fact that the black hole would carry a substantial amount of gaseous material as well as a very large number of galactic stars. Some recent observations are cited where the recoil phenomenon might be applicable.     

Determining the character of motion in quiet and active galaxies with a satellite companion

A galaxy model with a satellite companion is used to study the character of motion for stars moving in the x ‐y plane. It is observed that a large part of the phase plane is covered by chaotic orbits. The percentage of chaotic orbits increases when the galaxy has a dense nucleus of massM_n. The presence of the dense nucleus also increases the stellar velocities near the center of the galaxy. For small values of the distance R between the two bodies, low energy stars display a chaotic region near the centre of the galaxy, when the dense nucleus is present, while for larger values of R the motion in active galaxies is regular for low energy stars. Our results suggest that in galaxies with a satellite companion, the chaotic character of motion is not only a result of galactic interaction but also a result caused by the dense nucleus. Theoretical arguments are used to support the numerical outcomes. We follow the evolution of the galaxy, as mass is transported adiabatically from the disk to the nucleus. Our numerical results are in satisfactory agreement with observational data from M51‐type binary galaxies (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Peculiar motions of galaxy clusters in the regions of the Corona Borealis,Bootes, Z 5029/A 1424, A 1190, A 1750/A 1809 superclusters of galaxies

We present results of the study of peculiar motions of 57 clusters and groups of galaxies in the regions of the Corona Borealis (CrB), Bootes (Boo), Z5029/A1424, A1190, A1750/A1809 superclusters of galaxies and the galaxy clusters located beyond massive structures (0.05 < z < 0.10). Using the SDSS (Data Release 8) data, a sample of early-type galaxies was compiled in the systems under study, their fundamental planes were built, and relative distances and peculiar velocities were determined. Within the galaxy superclusters, significant peculiar motions along the line of sight are observed with rms deviations of 652 ± 50 kms^?1—in CrB, 757 ± 70 kms^?1—in Boo. In the most massive A2065 cluster in the CrB supercluster, no peculiar velocity was found. Peculiar motions of the other galaxy clusters can be caused by their gravitational interaction both with A2065 and with the A2142 supercluster. It has been found that there are two superclusters projected onto each other in the region of the Bootes supercluster with a radial velocity difference of about 4000 kms^?1. In the Z 5029/A1424 supercluster near the rich Z5029 cluster, the most considerable peculiar motions with a rms deviations of 1366 ± 170 kms^?1 are observed. The rms deviations of peculiar velocities of 20 clusters that do not belong to large-scale structures is equal to 0 ± 20 kms^?1. The whole sample of the clusters under study has the mean peculiar velocity equal to 83 ± 130 kms^?1 relative to the cosmic microwave background.     

The formation of a ring galaxy during a head-on collision between a disk and a spherical galaxy

The tidal force effects of a spherical galaxy passing head-on through a disk galaxy have been studied at various regions of the disk galaxy and for various orientations of the disk galaxy with respect to the direction of relative motion of the two galaxies. The density distribution of the disk galaxy is taken to be, (r)=_ce^–4r/R , where _c is the central density andR is the radius of the disk. The density distribution of the spherical galaxy is taken to be that of a oolytrope of indexn=4. It is found that as a result of the collision, through the central parts and the outer parts of the disk galaxy remain intact, the region in between these two regions disrupts. Thus a ring galaxy with a nucleus embedded in the ring-i.e., a ring galaxy of the RN-type, is formed.     

Peculiar motions of galaxy clusters and groups in the Hercules and Leo supercluster regions

We present the results of our study of the peculiar motions for 41 galaxy clusters and groups in the regions of the Hercules and Leo superclusters (0.027 < z < 0.045). For this purpose, based on SDSS (Data Release 8) data, we compiled a sample of early-type galaxies in the investigated clusters and groups, constructed their fundamental planes (FPs), and determined independent distances and peculiar velocities. The Hubble law between the radial velocities galaxy clusters and the distances derived from the FPs holds for the rich Hercules supercluster as a whole. At the same time, however, significant peculiar motions along the line of sight with rms deviations of 736 ± 50 and 584 ± 50 km s^?1 are observed within this supercluster and in its immediate neighborhood. In the poor Leo supercluster, the rms deviation is also large, 625 ± 70 km s^?1. Its Hubble diagram exhibits the approach of galaxy clusters and groups along the line of sight relative to the most massive cluster A1185. In the immediate neighborhood of the Leo supercluster (virtually in its field), the rms deviation of the peculiar velocities is minimal, 287 ± 60 km s^?1.     

The Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy (BeSSeL) survey: Mapping the Milky Way with VLBI astrometry

Astrometric Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of maser sources in the Milky Way are used to map the spiral structure of our galaxy and to determine fundamental parameters such as the rotation velocity (Θ₀) and curve and the distance to the Galactic center (R₀). Here, we present an update on our first results, implementing a recent change in the knowledge about the Solar motion. It seems unavoidable that the IAU recommended values for R₀ and Θ₀ need a substantial revision. In particular the combination of 8.5 kpc and 220 km s^–1 can be ruled out with high confidence. Combining the maser data with the distance to the Galactic center from stellar orbits and the proper motion of Sgr A* gives best values of R₀ = 8.3 ± 0.23 kpc and Θ₀ = 239 or 246±7 km s^–1, for Solar motions of V_⊙ = 12.23 and 5.25 km s^–1, respectively. Finally, we give an outlook to future observations in the Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy (BeSSeL) survey (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Properties of the large- and small-scale flow patterns in and around AR 19824

We trace the photospheric motions of 170 concentrations of magnetic flux tubes in and around the decaying active region No. 19824 (CMP 23 October 1986), using a series of magnetograms obtained at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The magnetograms span an interval of just over five days and cover an area of about 4 × 5 arc min centered on the active region. We find a persistent large-scale flow pattern that is superposed on the small-scale random motions of both polarities. Correction for differential rotation unveils the systematic, large-scale flow surrounding the core region of the magnetic plage. The flow (with a mean velocity of 30 m s^–1) is faster and more pronounced around the southern side of the core region than around the northern side, and it accelerates towards the western side of the active region. The northern and southern branches of the large-scale flow converge westward of the core region, dragging along the westernmost sunspot and some of the magnetic flux near it. The overall pattern of the large-scale flow resembles the flow of a river around a sand bar. The long-term evolution of the active region suggests that the flow persists for several months. We discuss the possible association of the large-scale flow with the torsional oscillation.We correct the observed motions of concentrations of flux tubes for the large-scale flow in order to study their random motions. The small-scale random motions (with a mean speed of 150 m s^–1) can be characterized by a diffusion coefficient of 250 km² s^–1 for the area surrounding the core region of the magnetic plage. The diffusion coefficient characterizing the small-scale motions within the core region (mostly observed near its periphery and in areas of relatively low flux density) is only 110 km² s^–1. The lower diffusion coefficient in the core region appears to be caused mainly by a smaller step length rather than by a distinct difference in velocities.Visitor at the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratories.     

The distribution of galaxy pair redshifts

High signal to noise neutral hydrogen observations of a complete sample of 132 galaxy pairs show a velocity difference distribution which decreases monotonically from zero. There is no strong indication of redshift periodicity for the entire sample and no indication at all for a subset of 79isolated galaxy pairs. In addition, when redshifts are corrected for the solar motion around the Galactic Center there is no indication of a redshift periodicity of 37.6 km s^–1 in V for galaxy pairs (as suggested by Guthrie and Napier 1996).     

The peculiar motion of the galaxies

The result of SANDAGE and TAMMANN (1975) that the peculiar motion of the galaxies superimposed on the HUBBLE flow is probably smaller than 50 km/s shows that the kinetic energy density of the “galaxy gas” was always smaller than the energy density of radiation or matter if the galaxies were formed later than z ≈︂ 10⁴. The galaxies possessed initial velocities 0.2 c if they orginated in the recombination area.     

N-body simulation of giant molecular clouds in a galaxy

We madeN-body simulation of Giant Molecular Clouds in a model galaxy and confirmed that their random motion is generated and accelerated by purely gravitational interaction among them in some 10^7–8 yr. The results of the present simulation agree well with those of the previous theoretical calculation by Fukunaga (1984a, b).Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Tidal disruption of a disk galaxy

The tidal force effects of a spherical galaxy passing head-on through a disk galaxy have been studied for various orientations of the disk galaxy with respect to the direction of relative motion of the two galaxies. The density distribution of the spherical galaxy is taken to be that of a polytrope of indexn=4 and that of the disk galaxy is taken to be, (r)=_ce^–4r/R, where _c is the central density andR the radius of the disk. It is found that the disruptive effects due to the tidal force are minimum when the plane of the disk lies along the direction of relative motion, but are maximum when the plane of the disk is slightly inclined to this direction (about 15°). The tidal force effects at the median radius have also been computed. The tadal force effects are much higher in the interior region of the disk.     

The irregular galaxy Cassiopeia 1 – a new member of the Local group

A photometry in the V, R, I (Cousins) system has been performed for stars in the galaxy Cassiopeia 1. The resulting colour-agnitude (CM) diagram of Cas 1 reveals the existence of blue stars and the absence of red ones. From an analysis of the CM diagram of the galaxy it is concluded that A_v = 4.0 mag, and the distance modulus (m – M)_o = 24.5 mag, corresponding to a distance of 790 kpc. The visual magnitude of the galaxy is V = 14^m.62 (M_v = −13^m.8) and the colour index (V – R) = 0.89 mag. From the distance determination the galaxy Cassiopeia 1 is a member of the Local group.     

Analysis of the properties of galaxy clusters in the Leo supercluster region

We analyze the properties of galaxy clusters in the region of the Leo supercluster using observational data from the SDSS and 2MASS catalogs. We have selected 14 galaxy clusters with a total dynamical mass of 1.77 × 10¹⁵ M _⊙ in the supercluster region 130 by 60 Mpc in the plane of the sky (z ≃ 0.037). The composite luminosity function of the supercluster is described by a Schechter function with parameters that, within the error limits, correspond to field galaxies and does not differ from the luminosity function of the richer Ursa Major (UMa) supercluster for the same luminosity range (the bright end). The luminosity functions of early-type and late-type galaxies in Leo at the faint end are characterized by a sharp decrease (α = −0.60±0.08) and a steep increase (α = −1.44± 0.10) in the number of galaxies, respectively. In the virialized cluster regions, the fraction of early-type galaxies selected by the u-r color, bulge contribution, and concentration index among the galaxies brighter than M _K ^* + 1 is, on average, 62%. This fraction is smaller than that in the UMa supercluster at a 2–3σ level. The near-infrared luminosities of galaxy clusters down to a fixed absolute magnitude correlate with their masses almost in the same way as for other samples of galaxy clusters (L _200,K ∝ M ₂₀₀^0.63±0.11)).     

GMRT detection of HI 21 cm-line absorption from the peculiar galaxy in Abell 2125

Using the recently completed Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope, we have detected the HI 21 cm-line absorption from the peculiar galaxy C153 in the galaxy cluster Abell 2125. The HI absorption is at a redshift of 0.2533, with a peak optical depth of 0.36. The full width at half minimum of the absorption line is 100 km s⁻¹. The estimated column density of atomic Hydrogen is 0.7×10²²(T _s /100) cm⁻². The HI absorption is redshifted by ∼400km s⁻¹ compared to the [OIII] emission line from this system. We attribute this to an infalling cold gas or to an out-flowing ionised gas, or to a combination of both as a consequence of tidal interactions of C153 with either a cluster galaxy or the cluster potential.     

Motion of quasar images by gravitational lens galaxies

Rotational motions of twin quasar images due to the motion of a gravitational lens galaxy are studied. A weak gravity field and a point mass lens are assumed. Twin images of a quasar appear and rotate when a lens galaxy passes near a straight line connecting the observer with the quasar. The positions and velocities of the quasar images are calculated using various sets of parameters.Conclusions: (1) Quasar images move a few hundred milli-arc-seconds per year or more, if the lens galaxy passes within a thousandth parsec from the line connecting the observer with the quasar, (2) the distance between the galactic center and the quasar images is about ten kilo-parsec at the most.As an example, the velocities of 0957+561 A, B1 and B2 are calculated. Even the fastest case, they are 1.5, 1.8, and 1.6×10^–5 milli-arc-second per year, respectively.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Taurus observations of the velocity field in the inner zone of NGC 6946

We have obtained a two-dimensional velocity map in H of the inner 4 arc min zone of the Scd starburst galaxy NGC 6946 using the TAURUS interferometric spectrometer on the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope. The major axis rotation curve is a cleen kinematic superposition of a central 1 kpc sphere with solid body rotation and a disc with density falling inversely with radius. We show clear evidence of symmetrical radial motions in the plane of the galaxy with velocity up to 100 km s^–1 along axes offset from the major axis by up to ±30°. Along the bar at position angle 160° we see outflow out to –2 kpc and significant inflow beyond this radius. These velocity fields give clues to the nature of the starburst process within the central 1 kpc zone of the galaxy.     

A comprehensive observational study of the young barred galaxy NGC 3359

We combine H_α and broad-band optical imaging and H_α velocity mapping over the face of the barred galaxy NGC 3359, obtained within the BARS programme on the Canary Island telescopes (Lourenso and Beckman, these proceedings).From the H_α image we have determined the positions, fluxes and diameters of a total of 547 HII regions, and computed their luminosity function whose slope is within the range of those of morphologically similar galaxies found in the literature. We have gone on to quantify other statistical properties, such as the diameter distribution and the flux densities of the regions. Using Fabry-Perot mapping in H_α with the TAURUS II instrument, we have produced maps of velocity and velocity dispersion, and computed the rotation curve out to ∼ 3 scale lengths from the centre of the galaxy. From the map of the residual velocities we detected streaming motions in the gas across the spiral arms and the presence of non-circular motions of order 30–40 km s^-1 around the bar: the gas response to the gravitational potential. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Noncommutative accelerated multidimensional universe dominated by quintessence

We processed the data on radial velocities and HI line widths for 1678 flat edge-on spirals from the Revised Flat Galaxy Catalogue. We obtained the parameters of the multipole components of the large-scale velocity field of collective non-Hubble galaxy motion as well as the parameters of the generalized Tully–Fisher relation in the “HI line width—linear diameter” version. All the calculations were performed independently in the framework of three models, where the multipole decomposition of the galaxy velocity field was limited to a dipole, a quadrupole, and an octopole term. We showed that both the quadrupole and the octopole components are statistically significant. On the basis of the compiled list of peculiar velocities of 1623 galaxies we obtained estimations of cosmological parameters Ω _m and σ ₈. These estimations were obtained in both graphical form and as a constraint of the value S ₈=(Ω _m /0.3)^0.35 σ ₈=0.91±0.05.     

Changes in the gravitational energy of galaxies during collisions

The problem of the change in gravitational energy of a colliding galaxy due to tidal effects is considered. The change in the internal energy, the mass of escaping matter and the change in the mean radius of the test galaxy have been estimated for a relative velocity of 1000 km s^–1 for three distances of closest approach for the following four cases: (a) both galaxies centrally concentrated, (b) both galaxies homogeneous, (c) test galaxy centrally concentrated, field galaxy homogeneous, and (d) test galaxy homogeneous, field galaxy centrally concentrated. The masses and radii of the two galaxies are taken as 10¹¹ M and 10 kpc respectively. For simplicity, the galaxies are assumed to be spherically symmetric and the distribution of mass within a centrally concentrated galaxy is assumed to be that of a polytrope of indexn=4. The results also provide estimates for the minimum relative velocity a galaxy must have in order that it may not be captured by another to form a double system. It has been found that normally a relative velocity of less than about 500 km s^–1 will lead to the formation of a double galaxy by tidal capture. In the case of a head-on collision between two centrally concentrated galaxies even a relative velocity of about 1000 km s^–1 is small enough for tidal capture. The changes in the structure of the galaxies for relative velocities equal to velocity of escape are also indicated. These results show that there is no escape of matter from the test galaxy in cases (b) and (c). In the case (a) the escape of matter can be as high as 4% of the total mass. The head-on collision between galaxies are normally not accompanied by any escape of matter. All the gain in the internal energy of galaxies during such collisions results in increase in their dimensions. The fractional increase in the mean radius of the test galaxy in the head-on collision is 1.5 in the case (a), 3.2 in the case (b) and 0.01 in the case (c). In the case (d) the test galaxy will be disrupted by the tidal forces.