Merger Dynamics of the Pair of Galaxy Clusters——A399 and A401

Convincing evidence for a past interaction between the two rich clusters A399 and A401 was recently found in the X-ray imaging observations. We examine the structure and dynamics of this pair of galaxy clusters. A mixture-modeling algorithm was applied to obtain a robust partition into two clusters, which allowed us to discuss the virial mass and velocity distribution of each cluster. Assuming that these two clusters follow a linear orbit and they have once experienced a close encounter, we model the binary cluster as a two-body system. As a result, four gravitationally bound solutions are obtained. The recent X-ray observations seem to favor a scenario in which the two clusters with a true separation of 5.4h-1 Mpc are currently expanding at 583 km s-1 along a direction with a projection angle of 67.5°, and they will reach a maximum extent of 5.65 h-1 Mpc in about 1.0 h-1 Gyr.     

Invariant manifolds, phase correlations of chaotic orbits and the spiral structure of galaxies

In the presence of a strong   m = 2  component in a rotating galaxy, the phase-space structure near corotation is shaped to a large extent by the invariant manifolds of the short-period family of unstable periodic orbits terminating at L ₁ or L ₂. The main effect of these manifolds is to create robust phase correlations among a number of chaotic orbits large enough to support a spiral density wave outside corotation. The phenomenon is described theoretically by soliton-like solutions of a Sine–Gordon equation. Numerical examples are given in an N -body simulation of a barred spiral galaxy. In these examples, we demonstrate how the projection of unstable manifolds in configuration space reproduces essentially the entire observed bar–spiral pattern.     

Kinematic properties and stellar populations of faint early-type galaxies – I. Velocity dispersion measurements of central Coma galaxies

We present velocity dispersion measurements for 69 faint early-type galaxies in the core of the Coma cluster, spanning  −22.0 ≲ M_R ≲−17.5 mag  . We examine the   L –σ  relation for our sample and compare it to that of bright elliptical galaxies (Es) from the literature. The distribution of the the faint early-type galaxies in the   L –σ  plane follows the relation   L ∝σ^2.01±0.36  , which is significantly shallower from   L ∝σ⁴  as defined for the bright Es. While increased rotational support for fainter early-type galaxies could account for some of the difference in slope, we show that it cannot explain it. We also investigate the colour–σ relation for our Coma galaxies. Using the scatter in this relation, we constrain the range of galaxy ages as a function of their formation epoch for different formation scenarios. Assuming a strong coordination in the formation epoch of faint early-type systems in Coma, we find that most had to be formed at least 6 Gyr ago and over a short 1-Gyr period.     

Cuspy dark matter haloes and the Galaxy

The microlensing optical depth to Baade's Window constrains the minimum total mass in baryonic matter within the Solar circle to be greater than ∼     , assuming the inner Galaxy is barred with viewing angle ∼20°. From the kinematics of solar neighbourhood stars, the local surface density of dark matter is ∼     . We construct cuspy haloes normalized to the local dark matter density and calculate the circular-speed curve of the halo in the inner Galaxy. This is added in quadrature to the rotation curve provided by the stellar and ISM discs, together with a bar sufficiently massive so that the baryonic matter in the inner Galaxy reproduces the microlensing optical depth. Such models violate the observational constraint provided by the tangent-velocity data in the inner Galaxy (typically at radii     . The high baryonic contribution required by the microlensing is consistent with implications from hydrodynamical modelling and the pattern speed of the Galactic bar. We conclude that the cuspy haloes favoured by the cold dark matter cosmology (and its variants) are inconsistent with the observational data on the Galaxy.     

Modelling line profiles in infalling cores

Results are presented from a model of molecular line formation in collapsing star-forming cores. The study includes, for the first time, a self-consistent chemical and dynamical model which is then directly coupled to an appropriate radiative transfer model. The assumptions of chemical uniformity or simple monotonic variations within such cores are shown to be unacceptable. The results show that the abundance variations and the line profiles are highly sensitive to the assumed values of the free parameters in the chemical model. Extreme caution is therefore advised in the quantitative analysis of emission-line profiles from infall sources. The implied degeneracy can be overcome by multiple line-of-sight observations of many species and transitions.