Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 1986
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986mnras.218..297w&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (ISSN 0035-8711), vol. 218, Jan. 15, 1986, p. 297-329.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
75
Elliptical Galaxies, Galactic Nuclei, Galactic Rotation, Galactic Structure, Radio Galaxies, Stellar Motions, Astronomical Maps, Astronomical Models, Interstellar Matter, Radial Velocity, Radio Jets (Astronomy)
Scientific paper
The first complete map of the stellar velocity field within 100 arcsec of the nucleus of the bright elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 (Cen A) has been compiled, and complementary long-slit spectra out to 400 arcsec along the optical major axis have been obtained. These data show that the ellipsoidal stellar component is rotating slowly (maximum line-of-sight velocity 40 km/s) approximately perpendicular to the dust lane about a projected axis lying in pa approximately 135 deg and in the opposite sense to that expected if the warp were due to the dust lying in stable orbits round a triaxial potential. The velocity field may be explained by either an effectively stationary oblate triaxial model where the radio jet lies along the major axis perpendicular to the dust lane, or by an effectively stationary prolate model where the jet is not constrained to be perpendicular to the dust lane, but in either case the present warped dust lane configuration must be transient. It is shown that the dust lane can significantly affect the steepness of the rotation curve, the skew of the velocity field, and the magnitude of the dispersion.
Fosbury Robert A. E.
Sharples Ray M.
Wallace Patrick T.
Wilkinson Althea
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