Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992aas...181.4111q&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 181st AAS Meeting, #41.11; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 24, p.1185
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present infrared images of Cen A (NGC5128) in the J,H, and K bands. The infrared morphology is primarily determined by the presence of a thin absorptive warped disk. By integrating the light of the underlying prolate galaxy through such a disk, we construct models which we compare with infrared and X-ray data. The geometry of the warped disk needed to fit the IR data is consistent with a warped disk which has evolved as a result of differential precession in a prolate potential. The disk has an inclination, with respect to the principal axis of the underlying elliptical galaxy, that is higher at large radii than in the inner region. A scenario is proposed where a small gas rich galaxy infalling under the force of dynamical friction is tidally stripped. Stripping occurs at different times during its infall. The orientation of the resulting gas disk depends upon the angular momentum of the infalling galaxy. We find that the resulting precession angle of the disk is well described by the precession model, but that the inclination angle may vary as a function of radius. We propose an orbit for the infalling galaxy that is consistent with the geometry of the warped disk needed to fit our infrared data and the location of the stellar shells in the outer part of the galaxy.
Frogel Jay. A.
Graham James R.
Quillen Alice. C.
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