Simulations of tidally induced spiral arms

Marcin Semczuk and Ewa L. Lokas

The origin of grand design spiral structure in galaxies is still under debate but one of promising scenarios involves tidal interactions. We use N-body simulations to study the evolution of a Milky Way-size galaxy in a Virgo-like cluster. The galaxy is placed on a typical eccentric orbit and evolved for 10 Gyr. We find that grand design spiral arms are triggered by pericenter passages and later on they wind up and dissipate. The arms formed in the simulations are approximately logarithmic, but are also dynamic, transient and recurrent.

Proceedings of the Polish Astronomical Society, vol. 3, 252-254 (2016)

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