Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae

In galaxies like the Milky Way, cold (~104K) gas ejected from the disc by stellar activity (the so-called galactic-fountain gas) is expected to interact with the virial-temperature (~106K) gas of the corona. The associated transfer of momentum between cold and hot gas has important consequences for...

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Autors principals: Marinacci, F, Fraternali, F, Nipoti, C, Binney, J, Ciotti, L, Londrillo, P
Format: Journal article
Idioma:English
Publicat: 2011
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author Marinacci, F
Fraternali, F
Nipoti, C
Binney, J
Ciotti, L
Londrillo, P
author_facet Marinacci, F
Fraternali, F
Nipoti, C
Binney, J
Ciotti, L
Londrillo, P
author_sort Marinacci, F
collection OXFORD
description In galaxies like the Milky Way, cold (~104K) gas ejected from the disc by stellar activity (the so-called galactic-fountain gas) is expected to interact with the virial-temperature (~106K) gas of the corona. The associated transfer of momentum between cold and hot gas has important consequences for the dynamics of both gas phases. We quantify the effects of such an interaction using hydrodynamical simulations of cold clouds travelling through a hot medium at different relative velocities. Our main finding is that there is a velocity threshold between clouds and corona, of about 75kms-1, below which the hot gas ceases to absorb momentum from the cold clouds. It follows that in a disc galaxy like the Milky Way a static corona would be rapidly accelerated; the corona is expected to rotate and to lag, in the inner regions, by ~80-120kms-1 with respect to the cold disc. We also show how the existence of this velocity threshold can explain the observed kinematics of the cold extraplanar gas. © 2011 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS.
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spelling oxford-uuid:526eb73f-1c38-46c4-9a42-24b26fb1c5c02022-03-26T16:25:36ZGalactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronaeJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:526eb73f-1c38-46c4-9a42-24b26fb1c5c0EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2011Marinacci, FFraternali, FNipoti, CBinney, JCiotti, LLondrillo, PIn galaxies like the Milky Way, cold (~104K) gas ejected from the disc by stellar activity (the so-called galactic-fountain gas) is expected to interact with the virial-temperature (~106K) gas of the corona. The associated transfer of momentum between cold and hot gas has important consequences for the dynamics of both gas phases. We quantify the effects of such an interaction using hydrodynamical simulations of cold clouds travelling through a hot medium at different relative velocities. Our main finding is that there is a velocity threshold between clouds and corona, of about 75kms-1, below which the hot gas ceases to absorb momentum from the cold clouds. It follows that in a disc galaxy like the Milky Way a static corona would be rapidly accelerated; the corona is expected to rotate and to lag, in the inner regions, by ~80-120kms-1 with respect to the cold disc. We also show how the existence of this velocity threshold can explain the observed kinematics of the cold extraplanar gas. © 2011 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS.
spellingShingle Marinacci, F
Fraternali, F
Nipoti, C
Binney, J
Ciotti, L
Londrillo, P
Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae
title Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae
title_full Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae
title_fullStr Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae
title_full_unstemmed Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae
title_short Galactic fountains and the rotation of disc-galaxy coronae
title_sort galactic fountains and the rotation of disc galaxy coronae
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