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arXiv 1111.1747astro-ph.GAastro-ph.CO
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宇宙学流体动力学模拟中恒星晕的整体结构和运动学

Global structure and kinematics of stellar haloes in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations

Ian G. McCarthy, Andreea S. Font, Robert A. Crain, Alis J. Deason, Joop Schaye, Tom Theuns

摘要:

我们使用银河系-星系际介质相互作用计算(GIMIC)的宇宙流体动力学模拟套件,研究银河系质量盘星系的恒星球状体的全球结构和运动学。Font等人最近证明,这些模拟能够成功地再现银河系和M31球状体的卫星光度函数以及金属丰度和表面亮度轮廓。模拟成功的一个关键是来自原位形成的恒星对球体的重大贡献。虽然外晕主要由吸积恒星组成,但在星系的主要祖先中形成的恒星在r < ~30 kpc时占主导地位。在目前的研究中,我们表明,这一组成部分主要是在原光盘在高红移,随后从光盘释放的动态加热与质量吸积。作为其起源的结果,球体的原位组件具有不同的运动学(即相对于盘的净旋转),而不是从卫星的破坏中构建的球体组件。此外,原位组分具有平坦的分布,这部分是由于其旋转。我们比较了本地星系的形状和运动学的测量,包括银河系和M31,以及更遥远星系的叠加观测。我们发现模拟的盘状星系有正确形状的球状体(在半径< ~30 kpc时,中位轴比为~0.6的扁圆形,但注意到这个数量有显著的系统间散射),并且运动学显示出两个分量的证据(由于原位与吸积),正如观察到的那样。因此,我们的研究结果增加了相当大的重量的重要性,耗散过程中形成的恒星晕和“双恒星晕”的概念。

英文摘要:

We use the Galaxies-Intergalactic Medium Interaction Calculation (GIMIC) suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to study the global structure and kinematics of stellar spheroids of Milky Way mass disc galaxies. Font et al. have recently demonstrated that these simulations are able to successfully reproduce the satellite luminosity functions and the metallicity and surface brightness profiles of the spheroids of the Milky Way and M31. A key to the success of the simulations is a significant contribution to the spheroid from stars that formed in situ. While the outer halo is dominated by accreted stars, stars formed in the main progenitor of the galaxy dominate at r < ~30 kpc. In the present study we show that this component was primarily formed in a proto-disc at high redshift and was subsequently liberated from the disc by dynamical heating associated with mass accretion. As a consequence of its origin, the in situ component of the spheroid has different kinematics (namely net prograde rotation with respect to the disc) than that of the spheroid component built from the disruption of satellites. In addition, the in situ component has a flattened distribution, that is due in part to its rotation. We make comparisons with measurements of the shape and kinematics of local galaxies, including the Milky Way and M31, and stacked observations of more distant galaxies. We find that the simulated disc galaxies have spheroids of the correct shape (oblate with a median axis ratio of ~0.6 at radii of < ~30 kpc, but note there is significant system-to-system scatter in this quantity) and that the kinematics show evidence for two components (due to in situ vs. accreted), as observed. Our findings therefore add considerable weight to the importance of dissipative processes in the formation of stellar haloes and to the notion of a 'dual stellar halo'.

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