Tidal tails around globular clusters. Are they a good tracer of cluster orbits?

Details Tidal tails around globular clusters. Are they a good tracer of cluster orbits? Tidal tails around globular clusters. Are they a good tracer of cluster orbits?

2006-11-07

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0611204v2

Astrophys.J.659:1212-1221,2007

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Latex file in the AASTEX standard; 15 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. Paper accepted on dec. 31 2006 for publication on ApJ, main

Scientific paper

10.1086/512114

We present the results of detailed N-body simulations of clusters moving in a realistic Milky Way (MW) potential. The strong interaction with the bulge and the disk of the Galaxy leads to the formation of tidal tails, emanating from opposite sides of the cluster. Some characteristic features in the morphology and orientation of these streams are recognized and intepreted. The tails have a complex morphology, in particular when the cluster approaches its apogalacticon, showing multiple ``arms'' in remarkable similarity to the structures observed around NGC 288 and Willman 1. Actually, the tails are generally good tracers of the cluster path quite far from the cluster center (>7--8 tidal radii), while on the smaller scale they are mainly pointing in the direction of the Galaxy center. In particular, the orientation of the inner part of the tails is highly correlated to the cluster orbital phase and to the local orbital angular acceleration. This implies that, in general, the orbital path cannot be estimated directly from the orientation of the tails, unless a sufficient large field around the cluster is available.

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