Polar ring galaxies: formation and properties

Abstract

Formation scenarios for polar ring galaxies are studied through N-body simulatio ns that are compared with existing observations. It is shown that polar rings ar e likely to be formed by tidal accretion of the polar material from a gas rich d onor galaxy. The distribution of dark matter in polar ring galaxies is studied: dark halos seem to be flattened towards the polar rings.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings SF2A-2002, Paris, ed. F. Combes and D. Barret, EDP-Science