Publication Date:
2011-08-18
Description:
The mechanism responsible for the massive rapidly expanding Galactic feature known as the 3-kpc arm (Rougoor and Oort, 1960) is investigated theoretically in the framework of a density-wave model of the Galaxy. The arm is attributed to outgoing waves excited at the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR) of a small rotating oval distortion near the Galactic center. Linear and nonlinear models are developed, and it is shown that a density crest at 3.5 kpc with expansion velocity 53 km/s can be generated by a distortion turning at 118 km/s kpc with a 10-percent perturbation of the main gravitational field at the OLR (located at 3 kpc). The wave character of the nonlinear solution is found to be the same as that of the linear solution and to give good agreement with the observations in terms of expansion velocity, size, shape, and mass; only the observed asymmetry of the arm is not reproduced.
Keywords:
ASTROPHYSICS
Type:
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X); 281; 600-613
Format:
text
