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    The dynamical evolution of molecular clouds near the Galactic Centre – II. Spatial structure and kinematics of simulated clouds

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    Kruijssen_2019.pdf (4.850Mb)
    Issue Date
    2019-02-07
    Author
    Kruijssen, J. M. D.
    Dale, J. E.
    Longmore, S. N.
    Walker, D. L.
    Henshaw, J. D.
    Jeffreson, S. M. R.
    Petkova, M. A.
    Ginsburg, A.
    Barnes, A. T.
    Battersby, C. D.
    Immer, K.
    Jackson, J. M.
    Keto, E. R.
    Krieger, N.
    Mills, Elisabeth
    Sánchez-Monge, Á.
    Schmiedeke, A.
    Suri, S. T.
    Zhang, Q.
    Publisher
    Royal Astronomical Society
    Type
    Article
    Article Version
    Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
    Rights
    Copyright 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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    Abstract
    The evolution of molecular clouds in galactic centres is thought to differ from that in galactic discs due to a significant influence of the external gravitational potential. We present a set of numerical simulations of molecular clouds orbiting on the 100-pc stream of the Central Molecular Zone (the central ∼500pc of the Galaxy) and characterize their morphological and kinematic evolution in response to the background potential and eccentric orbital motion. We find that the clouds are shaped by strong shear and torques, by tidal and geometric deformation, and by their passage through the orbital pericentre. Within our simulations, these mechanisms control cloud sizes, aspect ratios, position angles, filamentary structure, column densities, velocity dispersions, line-of-sight velocity gradients, spin angular momenta, and kinematic complexity. By comparing these predictions to observations of clouds on the Galactic Centre ‘dust ridge’, we find that our simulations naturally reproduce a broad range of key observed morphological and kinematic features, which can be explained in terms of well-understood physical mechanisms. We argue that the accretion of gas clouds on to the central regions of galaxies, where the rotation curve turns over and the tidal field is fully compressive, is accompanied by transformative dynamical changes to the clouds, leading to collapse and star formation. This can generate an evolutionary progression of cloud collapse with a common starting point, which either marks the time of accretion on to the tidally compressive region or of the most recent pericentre passage. Together, these processes may naturally produce the synchronized starbursts observed in numerous (extra)galactic nuclei.
    Description
    This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/31460
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz381
    Collections
    • Physics & Astronomy Scholarly Works [1713]
    Citation
    J M D Kruijssen, J E Dale, S N Longmore, D L Walker, J D Henshaw, S M R Jeffreson, M A Petkova, A Ginsburg, A T Barnes, C D Battersby, K Immer, J M Jackson, E R Keto, N Krieger, E A C Mills, Á Sánchez-Monge, A Schmiedeke, S T Suri, Q Zhang, The dynamical evolution of molecular clouds near the Galactic Centre – II. Spatial structure and kinematics of simulated clouds, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 484, Issue 4, April 2019, Pages 5734–5754, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz381

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    KU Libraries
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    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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