Simulations of dual morphology in spiral galaxies

Abstract

Gas and stars in spiral galaxies are modelled with the DUAL code, using hydrodynamic and N-body techniques. The simulations reveal morphological differences mirroring the dual morphologies seen in B and K' band observations of many spiral galaxies. In particular, the gaseous images are more flocculent with lower pitch angles than the stellar images, and the stellar arm-interarm contrast correlates with the degree of morphological decoupling.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Disk of Galaxies: Kinematics, Dynamics and Perturbations, ASP Conf. Series, 200