Related papers: Application of the global modal approach to spiral…
We have tested the applicability of the global modal approach in the density wave theory of spiral structure for a sample of spiral galaxies with measured axisymmetric background properties. We report here the results of the simulations for…
We present an observational and theoretical study of the spiral structure in galaxy NGC 1566. A digitized image of NGC 1566 in I-band was used for measurements of the radial dependence of amplitude variations in the spiral arms. We use the…
In the density wave theory of spiral structure, the grand-design two-armed spiral pattern is taken to rotate rigidly in a galactic disc with a constant, definite pattern speed. The observational measurement of the pattern speed of the…
We investigate dynamical states of grand-design spiral arms in three local galaxies: M51, NGC3627 and NGC628. Based on linear perturbation analysis considering multiple components in the galaxies, we compute instability parameters of the…
Context. There is a contradiction between the characteristic spacings in observed regular chains of star-forming regions in the spiral arms of galaxies, ~500 pc, and the estimates of the wavelength of gravitational instability in them, >1…
Most star formation in the local Universe occurs in spiral galaxies, but their origin remains an unanswered question. Various theories have been proposed to explain the development of spiral arms, each predicting different spatial…
Context: Several spiral galaxies, as beautifully exhibited by the case of NGC 6946, display a prominent large-scale spiral structure in their gaseous outer disk. Such structure is often thought to pose a dynamical puzzle, because…
We present hydrodynamical models of the grand design spiral M51 (NGC 5194), and its interaction with its companion NGC 5195. Despite the simplicity of our models, our simulations capture the present day spiral structure of M51 remarkably…
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…
One of the main theories for explaining the formation of spiral arms in galaxies is the stationary density wave theory. This theory predicts the existence of an age gradient across the arms. We use the stellar cluster catalogues of the…
We describe simulations of the response of a gaseous disc to an active spiral potential. The potential is derived from an N-body calculation and leads to a multi-armed time-evolving pattern. The gas forms long spiral arms typical of grand…
Using observational data, we build numerical N-body, hydrodynamical and combined equilibrium models for the spiral galaxy NGC 5247. The models turn out to be unstable towards spiral structure formation. We simulate scenarios of spiral…
Results are presented of numerical simulations of normal isolated late type spiral galaxies. Specifically the galaxy NGC 628 is used as a template. The method employs a TREESPH code including stellar particles, gas particles, cooling and…
Spiral galaxies are studied using a simple global disc model as a means for approximate determination of mass profiles. Based on rotation curves and the amount of gas (HI+He), we find global surface mass densities consistent with…
Spiral arms are a common feature of local galaxies, but the exact form of the distribution of mass and light in them is not well known. In this work, we aim to measure this distribution as accurately as possible, focusing on individual…
We study how well the complex gas velocity fields induced by massive spiral arms are modelled by the hydrodynamical simulations we used to constrain the dark matter fraction in nearby spiral galaxies (Kranz et al. 2001, 2003). More…
We have measured the positions of large numbers of H II regions in four nearly face-on, late-type, spiral galaxies: NGC 628 (M 74), NGC 1232, NGC 3184 and NGC 5194 (M 51). Fitting log-periodic spiral models to segments of each arm yields…
We investigate the possibility of describing the spiral pattern of the Milky Way in terms of a model of superposition 2- and 4-armed wave harmonics (the simplest description, besides pure modes). Two complementary methods are used: a study…
The generation of spiral arms and the mechanisms controlling their properties within a realistic cosmological framework - the complete understanding is still beyond our grasp. Using a statistically significant sample of Milky Way- and…
We present K'(2.1 micron) observations of four nearby flocculent spirals, which clearly show low-level spiral structure and suggest that kiloparsec-scale spiral structure is more prevalent in flocculent spirals than previously supposed. In…