Kinematically Lopsided Spiral Galaxies
Astrophysics
2009-10-31 v1
Abstract
Asymmetries in the distribution of light and neutral hydrogen are often observed in spiral galaxies. Here, attention is drawn to the presence of large-scale asymmetries in their kinematics. Two examples of kinematically lopsided galaxies are presented and discussed. The shape of the rotation curve --rising more steeply on one side of the galaxy than on the other-- is the signature of the kinematic lopsidedness. It is shown that kinematic lopsidedness may be related to lopsidedness in the potential, and that even a mild perturbation in the latter can produce significant kinematical effects. Probably at least half of all spiral galaxies are lopsided.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9811424,
title = {Kinematically Lopsided Spiral Galaxies},
author = {R. A. Swaters and R. H. M. Schoenmakers and R. Sancisi and T. S. van Albada},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9811424},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
6 pages, accepted for MNRAS