Related papers: Probing the Environment with Galaxy Dynamics
Understanding the consequences of the gravitational interaction between a star and a planet is fundamental to the study of exoplanets. The solution of the two-body problem shows that the planet moves in an elliptical path around the star…
We examine the distributions of eccentricities of orbits within mass distributions like those we see for galaxies and clusters. A comprehensive understanding of these orbital properties is essential to calculate the rates of physical…
When interpreted within the standard framework of Newtonian gravity and dynamics, the kinematics of stars and gas in dwarf galaxies reveals that most of these systems are completely dominated by their dark matter halos. These dwarf galaxies…
Measurements of the kinematics of merging galaxies are often used to derive dynamical masses, study evolution onto the fundamental plane, or probe relaxation processes. These measurements are often compromised to some degree by strong…
Stellar pulsation is nowadays a widely understood subject. However, there has been no research about the effects of pulsations on the star's orbital dynamics throughout the galaxy. We investigate whether these oscillations can cause chaotic…
This chapter reviews theoretical work on the stellar dynamics of galaxy disks. All the known collective global instabilities are identified, and their mechanisms described in terms of local wave mechanics. A detailed discussion of warps and…
In models of galaxy formation in a hierarchical Universe, elliptical galaxies form through the merging of smaller disk systems. These models yield a number of testable predictions if reliable techniques for determining the relative ages and…
Wide or fragile pairs are sensitive probes of the galactic potential, and they have been used to provide information about the galactic tidal field, the density of GMC and the masses of dark matter perturbers present in both the disk and…
The distributions of galaxy properties vary with environment, and are often multimodal, suggesting that the galaxy population may be a combination of multiple components. The behaviour of these components versus environment holds details…
We use a series of high-resolution N-body simulations of a `Milky-Way' halo, coupled to semi-analytic techniques, to study the formation of our own Galaxy and of its stellar halo. Our model Milky Way galaxy is a relatively young system…
Galactic bulges are complex systems. Once thought to be small-scale versions of elliptical galaxies, advances in astronomical instrumentation (spectroscopy in particular) has revealed a wealth of photometric and kinematic substructure in…
We present an analysis of the distribution and strength of star formation in three nearby small galaxy systems, which are undergoing a weak interaction, a strong interaction, and a merging process, respectively. The galaxies in all systems…
We review the theory of how the shapes of the X-ray isophotes probe both the shape and radial distribution of gravitating matter in elliptical galaxies in a way that is more robust than the traditional spherical approach. We summarize and…
Deep photometric surveys of the Milky Way have revealed diffuse structures encircling our Galaxy far beyond the "classical" limits of the stellar disk. This paper reviews results from our own and other observational programs, which together…
We discuss evidence in local, present-day clusters of galaxies (from the ENACS survey) about the way in which those clusters have evolved and about the evolutionary relationships between the galaxies of different morphological types in…
We construct stable axially symmetric models of elliptical galaxies. The particle density on phase space for these models depends monotonically on the particle energy and on the third component of the angular momentum. They are obtained as…
By a few but important examples as models of combined radiative and wind-driven HII regions and galactic winds we demonstrate the importance of refined small-to-medium scale studies of chemo-dynamical effects. These processes determine the…
The mass distribution of galaxy clusters can be determined from the study of the projected phase-space distribution of cluster galaxies. The main advantage of this method as compared to others, is that it allows determination of cluster…
Galaxies represent the visible fabric of the Universe and there has been considerable progress recently in both observational and theoretical studies. The underlying goal is to understand the present-day diversity of galaxy forms, masses…
The dynamics of an elliptical galaxy within a couple of effective radii can be probed effectively by stars. However, at larger distances planetary nebulae (PNe) replace stars as the tracer of the dynamics. Making use of the motion of PNe,…