Warps and Accretion
Abstract
Warps are a basic feature of disk galaxies. Usually they occur at radii where the optical disk fades and become most pronounced in the outermost gaseous disks.
As such, warps present a massive reservoir to replenish star forming material in the inner, star forming disks. Furthermore, some possible excitation mechanisms for warps connect their formation to the accretion of extragalctic material. Interactions or mergers with gas-rich companions or the direct accretion of the ambient intergalactic medium might lead to the formation of warps, at the same time supplementing fuel to maintain star formation in galactic disks. Employing a number of H i studies of warped galaxies, including ultra-deep observations of the prototype warped galaxies NGC 5907 and NGC 4013, I discuss whether the observed kinematics may show evidence for a connection of warps and accretion from the ambient medium.- Publication:
-
Tracing the Ancestry of Galaxies
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1743921311022496
- Bibcode:
- 2011IAUS..277...71J
- Keywords:
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- galaxies: evolution;
- galaxies: kinematics and dynamics;
- galaxies: ISM;
- galaxies: formation;
- galaxies: intergalactic medium;
- galaxies: spiral;
- galaxies: structure