Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-hgkh8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T06:45:37.363Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Role of Secondary Bars in Bulge Formation

from Part 4 - Physical Processes in Bulge Formation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

H. Hasan
Affiliation:
Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington DC 20546, USA Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore MD 21218, USA
C. Marcella Carollo
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Henry C. Ferguson
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
Rosemary F. G. Wyse
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University
Get access

Summary

An analysis of stellar orbits in a doubly barred galaxy shows that the effect of a secondary bar is to destabilize the orbits, the process being accompanied by the appearance of vertical resonances which would enable stars to leave the galactic plane and move into the bulge. This phenomenon could contribute to bulge formation. Results of the orbital analysis are presented and their significance discussed.

Introduction

The role of a secondary bar in shaping the morphology of a galaxy and its possible contribution to bulge formation is an issue which is currently largely unexplored. With more powerful observing techniques beginning to become available, a new look at galaxies which had been classified as unbarred shows that several of them possess a primary bar and some even show secondary bars (Mulchaey et al. 1997). If secondary bars are more prevalent than previously supposed, it is conceivable that they play a role in the secular evolution of galaxies much in the same way as do central mass concentrations (e.g. Hasan & Norman 1990, Sellwood & Moore 1999, Merritt 1998.) Nested gaseous bars have been produced in N-body simulations (Friedli & Martinet 1993; Heller & Shlosman 1994) suggesting that a system of embedded bars may be effective in transporting gas to the galactic center (Pfenniger & Norman 1990, Shlosman et al. 1989), thus influencing galactic evolution. An intuitive insight into the evolutionary process may be gained by examining the stellar dynamics in such systems.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×