Transitions between epicyclic stellar orbits induced by massive gas clouds

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Gravitational Effects, Interstellar Gas, Milky Way Galaxy, Star Distribution, Stellar Motions, Stellar Orbits, Angular Momentum, Equations Of Motion, Galactic Structure, Orbits, Scattering, Velocity Distribution

Scientific paper

The results are presented of a large series of numerically computed encounters between stars and a cloud, represented by a soft potential well. It is assumed that in the unperturbed Galaxy the stars move on strictly epicyclic orbits. This approach is used in place of exact equations of motion in the Galaxy because in the epicyclic formalism the free parameters specifying the gravitational environment of the star are just two numbers, whereas if the entire Galaxy were to be taken into account these are replaced by a function. The epicyclic orbits are characterized by four numbers which can be compared before and after the collision to calculate transition probabilities. It is concluded that the observed dependence of the velocity dispersion on the age of stars can be explained by repeated gravitational encounters between stars and gas clouds whose mass need not be greater than 400,000 solar masses.

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