1,178 research outputs found
Three-integral oblate galaxy models
A simple numerical scheme is presented for the construction of three-integral
phase-space distribution functions for oblate galaxy models with a
gravitational potential of St\"{a}ckel form, and an arbitrary axisymmetric
luminous density distribution. The intrinsic velocity moments can be obtained
simultaneously with little extra effort. The distribution of the inner and
outer turning points of the short-axis tube orbits that are populated can be
specified freely, and is chosen in advance. The entire distribution function is
then derived from the density by an iterative scheme that starts from the
explicitly known distribution function of the thin-orbit (maximum streaming)
model, in which only the tubes with equal inner and outer turning points are
populated. The versatility and limitations of this scheme are illustrated by
the construction of a number of self-consistent three-integral flattened
isochrone models of Kuzmin--Kutuzov type, and by investigation of special cases
where the scheme is tractable analytically. This includes the behaviour of the
distribution functions in the outer regions of the models. The scheme converges
rapidly for models containing orbits with ratios of the outer to inner turning
point as large as ten, and is particularly suited for the construction of
tangentially anisotropic flattened models, self-consistent as well as
non-consistent. The algorithm simplifies in the disk and spherical limit, and
can be generalized to triaxial models.Comment: uuencoded gziped PostScript, 21 pages without figures. PostScript
with figures available from http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/dynamics/Papers/ or
ftp://ftp.strw.leidenuniv.nl/pub/dynamics/Papers/RobijnDeZeeuw95.tar.Z
Accepted by MNRA
Two-integral Schwarzschild models
We describe a practical method for constructing axisymmetric two-integral
galaxy models (with distribution functions of the form f(E,L_z), in which E is
the orbital energy, and L_z is the vertical component of the angular momentum),
based on Schwarzschild's orbit superposition method. Other f(E,L_z)-methods are
mostly based on solving the Jeans equations or on finding the distribution
function directly from the density, which often places restrictions on the
shape of the galaxy. Here, no assumptions are made and any axisymmetric density
distribution is possible. The observables are calculated (semi-)analytically,
so that our method is faster than most previous, fully numerical
implementations. Various aspects are tested extensively, the results of which
apply directly to three-integral Schwarzschild methods. We show that a given
distribution function can be reproduced with high accuracy and investigate the
behaviour of the parameter that is used to measure the goodness-of-fit.
Furthermore, we show that the method correctly identifies the range of cusp
clopes for which axisymmetric two-integral models with a central black hole do
not exist.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Mapping young stellar populations towards Orion with Gaia DR1
We use the first data release of the Gaia mission to explore the three
dimensional arrangement and the age ordering of the many stellar groups towards
the Orion OB association, aiming at a new classification and characterization
of the stellar population. We make use of the parallaxes and proper motions
provided in the Tycho Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) sub-set of the Gaia
catalogue, and of the combination of Gaia and 2MASS photometry. In TGAS we find
evidence for the presence of a young population, at a parallax , loosely distributed around some known clusters: 25 Ori,
Ori and Ori, and NGC 1980 ( Ori). The low mass
counterpart of this population is visible in the color-magnitude diagrams
constructed by combining Gaia and 2MASS photometry. We study the density
distribution of the young sources in the sky. We find the same groups as in
TGAS, and also some other density enhancements that might be related to the
recently discovered Orion X group, the Orion dust ring, and to the
Ori complex. We estimate the ages of this population and we infer the presence
of an age gradient going from 25 Ori (13-15 Myr) to the ONC (1-2 Myr). We
confirm this age ordering by repeating the Bayesian fit using the Pan-STARRS1
data. The estimated ages towards the NGC 1980 cluster span a broad range of
values. This can either be due to the presence of two populations coming from
two different episodes of star formation or to a large spread along the line of
sight of the same population. Our results form the first step towards using the
Gaia data to unravel the complex star formation history of the Orion region in
terms of the different star formation episodes, their duration, and their
effects on the surrounding interstellar medium.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure
3D mapping of young stars in the solar neighbourhood with Gaia DR2
We study the three dimensional arrangement of young stars in the solar
neighbourhood using the second release of the Gaia mission (Gaia DR2) and we
provide a new, original view of the spatial configuration of the star forming
regions within 500 pc from the Sun. By smoothing the star distribution through
a gaussian filter, we construct three dimensional density maps for early-type
stars (upper-main sequence, UMS) and pre-main sequence (PMS) sources. The PMS
and the UMS samples are selected through a combination of photometric and
astrometric criteria. A side product of the analysis is a three dimensional,
G-band extinction map, which we use to correct our colour-magnitude diagram for
extinction and reddening. Both density maps show three prominent structures,
Scorpius-Centaurus, Orion, and Vela. The PMS map shows a plethora of lower mass
star forming regions, such as Taurus, Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and
Lacerta, which are less visible in the UMS map, due to the lack of large
numbers of bright, early-type stars. We report the finding of a candidate new
open cluster towards , which could be
related to the Orion star forming complex. We estimate ages for the PMS sample
and we study the distribution of PMS stars as a function of their age. We find
that younger stars cluster in dense, compact clumps, and are surrounded by
older sources, whose distribution is instead more diffuse. The youngest groups
that we find are mainly located in Scorpius-Centaurus, Orion, Vela, and Taurus.
Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Lacerta are instead more evolved and less numerous.
Finally, we find that the three dimensional density maps show no evidence for
the existence of the ring-like structure which is usually referred to as the
Gould Belt.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures, 6 appendixes; accepted for publication in A&A;
image quality decreased to comply with the arXiv.org rules on file siz
The dynamical distance and intrinsic structure of the globular cluster omega Centauri
We determine the dynamical distance D, inclination i, mass-to-light ratio M/L
and the intrinsic orbital structure of the globular cluster omega Cen, by
fitting axisymmetric dynamical models to the ground-based proper motions of van
Leeuwen et al. and line-of-sight velocities from four independent data-sets. We
correct the observed velocities for perspective rotation caused by the space
motion of the cluster, and show that the residual solid-body rotation component
in the proper motions can be taken out without any modelling other than
assuming axisymmetry. This also provides a tight constraint on D tan i.
Application of our axisymmetric implementation of Schwarzschild's orbit
superposition method to omega Cen reveals no dynamical evidence for a
significant radial dependence of M/L. The best-fit dynamical model has a
stellar V-band mass-to-light ratio M/L_V = 2.5 +/- 0.1 M_sun/L_sun and an
inclination i = 50 +/- 4 degrees, which corresponds to an average intrinsic
axial ratio of 0.78 +/- 0.03. The best-fit dynamical distance D = 4.8 +/- 0.3
kpc (distance modulus 13.75 +/- 0.13 mag) is significantly larger than obtained
by means of simple spherical or constant-anisotropy axisymmetric dynamical
models, and is consistent with the canonical value 5.0 +/- 0.2 kpc obtained by
photometric methods. The total mass of the cluster is (2.5 +/- 0.3) x 10^6
M_sun. The best-fit model is close to isotropic inside a radius of about 10
arcmin and becomes increasingly tangentially anisotropic in the outer region,
which displays significant mean rotation. This phase-space structure may well
be caused by the effects of the tidal field of the Milky Way. The cluster
contains a separate disk-like component in the radial range between 1 and 3
arcmin, contributing about 4% to the total mass.Comment: 37 pages (23 figures), accepted for publication in A&A, abstract
abridged, for PS and PDF file with full resolution figures, see
http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~vdven/oc
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