Gas in galactic centres
Abstract
The origin and evolution of the gas in galactic centres is briefly reviewed, emphasizing the increasing evidence for infall leading ultimately to nuclear activity. A particular model is described in which inflowing stellar mass loss from the surrounding galaxy as a whole accumulates as a dense cold nuclear disc until it eventually flows into the centre to form a supermassive star or spinar. The evolution of a viscous disc dominated by infall, together with the structure and evolution of any massive central object formed therein, emerge as the most important outstanding roblems for future research on the evolution and fate of the gas in galactic nuclei.
- Publication:
-
Cosmical Gas Dynamics
- Pub Date:
- 1985
- Bibcode:
- 1985cgd..conf...49B
- Keywords:
-
- Galactic Evolution;
- Galactic Nuclei;
- Gas Dynamics;
- Interstellar Gas;
- Black Holes (Astronomy);
- Stellar Mass Ejection;
- Viscosity;
- Astrophysics