Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T16:09:26.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Galaxy disc heating as a result of minor mergers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2010

M. T. Tapia
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea S/N, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain email: [email protected]
M. Balcells
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea S/N, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain email: [email protected]
M. C. Eliche-Moral
Affiliation:
Departamento de Astrofísica y Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Facultad de C.C. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We perform a sample of N-body simulations of a minor merger between a Milky Way type galaxy and a satellite, which is density scaled version of the primary galaxy. In this suite of collisionless runs we change the value of some critical parameters like the luminous mass ratio between the two galaxies (1 : 6, 1 : 9), the type of orbit (direct or prograde) and the number of particles (185,000, 555,000 and 1,850,000). We estimate the disc thickening by measuring the median of the vertical scale and we find that that the merger increases the scale height in a factor of ≈2 in all the remnants.

Type
Poster Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

González-García, A. C. & Balcells, M. 2005, MNRAS, 357, 735CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eliche-Moral, M. C., Balcells, M., Aguerri, A. L., & González-García, A. C. 2006, AA, 457, 91CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuijken, K. & Dubinski, J. 1995, MNRAS, 277, 1341CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuijken, K. & Dubinski, J. 1994, MNRAS, 269, 13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toomre, A. & Toomre, J. 1972, ApJ, 178, 623CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Springel, V. 2005, MNRAS, 364, 1105CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernquist, L. & Mihos, J. C. 1995, ApJ, 448, 41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, P. J., Hernquist, L., & Fullagar, D. P. 1993, AJ, 403, 74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tóth, G. & Ostriker, J. P. 1992, ApJ, 389, 5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaritsky, D. 1995, ApJ, 448, L17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernquist, L. & Katz, N. 1989, ApJS, 70, 419CrossRefGoogle Scholar