Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

Simulations of the flocculent spiral M33: what drives the spiral structure?

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dc.creator Dobbs, CL
dc.creator Pettitt, AR
dc.creator Corbelli, E
dc.creator Pringle, JE
dc.date 2018-11-23T15:32:52Z
dc.date 2018-05-23
dc.date 2018-11-23T15:32:52Z
dc.date.accessioned 2022-05-27T01:03:08Z
dc.date.available 2022-05-27T01:03:08Z
dc.identifier Vol. 478, pp. 3793 - 3808
dc.identifier 10.1093/mnras/sty1231
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10871/34891
dc.identifier 0035-8711
dc.identifier Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/241929
dc.description This is the final version. Available from OUP via the DOI in this record
dc.description We perform simulations of isolated galaxies in order to investigate the likely origin of the spiral structure in M33. In our models, we find that gravitational instabilities in the stars and gas are able to reproduce the observed spiral pattern and velocity field of M33, as seen in HI, and no interaction is required. We also find that the optimum models have high levels of stellar feedback which create large holes similar to those observed in M33, while lower levels of feedback tend to produce a large amount of small-scale structure, and undisturbed long filaments of high surface density gas, hardly detected in the M33 disc. The gas component appears to have a significant role in producing the structure, so if there is little feedback, both the gas and stars organize into clear spiral arms, likely due to a lower combined Q (using gas and stars), and the ready ability of cold gas to undergo spiral shocks. By contrast models with higher feedback have a weaker spiral structure, especially in the stellar component, compared to grand-design galaxies. We did not see a large difference in the behaviour of Qstars with most of these models, however, because Qstars stayed relatively constant unless the disc was more strongly unstable. Our models suggest that although the stars produce some underlying spiral structure, this is relatively weak, and the gas physics has a considerable role in producing the large-scale structure of the ISM in flocculent spirals.
dc.description CLD acknowledges funding from the European Research Council for the FP7 ERC starting grant project LOCALSTAR.
dc.language en
dc.publisher Oxford University Press (OUP) / Royal Astronomical Society
dc.rights © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
dc.subject galaxies: individual: M33
dc.subject ISM: general
dc.subject galaxies: spiral
dc.title Simulations of the flocculent spiral M33: what drives the spiral structure?
dc.type Article


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