Related papers: The spiral arms of galaxies
Spiral density wave theory attempts to describe the spiral pattern in spiral galaxies in terms of a long-lived wave structure with a constant pattern speed in order to avoid the winding dilemma. The pattern is consequently a rigidly…
Observations and simulations of barred spiral galaxies have shown that, in general, the spiral arms rotate at a different pattern speed to that of the bar. The main conclusion from the bibliography is that the bar rotates faster than the…
In spiral galaxies, the pitch angle, $\alpha$, of the spiral arms is often proposed as a discriminator between theories for the formation of the spiral structure. In Lin-Shu density wave theory, $\alpha$ stays constant in time, being simply…
Spiral density wave theory attempts to describe the spiral pattern in spiral galaxies in terms of a long-lived wave structure with a constant pattern speed in order to avoid the winding dilemma. The pattern is consequently a rigidly…
The causes of spiral structure in galaxies remain uncertain. Leaving aside the grand bisymmetric spirals with their own well-known complications, here we consider the possibility that multi-armed spiral features originate from density…
One of the scenarios for the formation of grand-design spiral arms in disky galaxies involves their interactions with a satellite or another galaxy. Here we consider another possibility, where the perturbation is instead due to the…
Spiral arms that emerge from the ends of a galactic bar are important in interpreting observations of our and external galaxies. It is therefore important to understand the physical mechanism that causes them. We find that these spiral arms…
Spiral arms are the defining features of broad morphological classes of disc galaxies, but their nature and influence on galaxy evolution is still under debate. A key diagnostic for their nature is the spiral arm pattern speed: the radial…
The majority of astrophysics involves the study of spiral galaxies, and stars and planets within them, but how spiral arms in galaxies form and evolve is still a fundamental problem. Major progress in this field was made primarily in the…
We propose a theory to explain the formation of both spirals and rings in barred galaxies using a common dynamical framework. It is based on the orbital motion driven by the unstable equilibrium points of the rotating bar potential. Thus,…
We propose a new theory to explain the formation of spiral arms and of all types of outer rings in barred galaxies. We have extended and applied the technique used in celestial mechanics to compute transfer orbits. Thus, our theory is based…
According to one version of the recently proposed "manifold" theory that explains the origin of spirals and rings in relation to chaotic orbits, galaxies with stronger bars should have a higher spiral arms pitch angle when compared to…
Deep HI observations of the outer parts of disc galaxies demonstrate the frequent presence of extended, well-developed spiral arms far beyond the optical radius. To understand the nature and the origin of such outer spiral structure, we…
We propose a theory to explain the formation of spiral arms and of all types of outer rings in barred galaxies, extending and applying the technique used in celestial mechanics to compute transfer orbits. Thus, our theory is based on the…
In this and in a previous paper (Romero-Gomez et al. 2006) we propose a theory to explain the formation of both spirals and rings in barred galaxies using a common dynamical framework. It is based on the orbital motion driven by the…
We establish a dynamical mechanism to explain the origin of the asymmetry between the arms observed in some barred disk galaxies, where one of the two arms emanating from the bar ends is very well defined, while the second one displays a…
Stable periodic orbits in spiral galactic models that form families of precessing ellipses can create spiral density waves similar to those that are observed in real grand-design galaxies. We study the range in parameter space for which the…
We study the formation of the spiral structure of barred spiral galaxies, using an $N$-body model. The evolution of this $N$-body model in the adiabatic approximation maintains a strong spiral pattern for more than 10 bar rotations. We find…
We use hydrodynamic simulations to investigate nonlinear gas responses to an imposed stellar spiral potential in disk galaxies. The gaseous medium is assumed to be infinitesimally thin, isothermal, and unmagnetized. We consider various…
We propose a new, more realistic, description of the perturbed gravitational potential of spiral galaxies, with spiral arms having Gaussian-shaped groove profiles. We investigate the stable stellar orbits in galactic disks, using the new…