Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

HOYLE-LYTTLETON ACCRETION IN THREE DIMENSIONS

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202 (United States)
We investigate the stability of gravitational accretion of an ideal gas onto a compact object moving through a uniform medium at Mach 3. Previous three-dimensional simulations have shown that such accretion is not stable, and that strong rotational 'disk-like' flows are generated and accreted on short timescales. We re-address this problem using overset spherical grids that provide a factor of seven improvement in spatial resolution over previous simulations. With our higher spatial resolution we found these three-dimensional accretion flows remained remarkably axisymmetric. We examined two cases of accretion with different sized accretors. The larger accretor produced very steady flow, with the mass accretion rate varying by less than 0.02% over 30 flow times. The smaller accretor exhibited an axisymmetric breathing mode that modulated the mass accretion rate by a constant 20%. Nonetheless, the flow remained highly axisymmetric with only negligible accretion of angular momentum in both cases.
OSTI ID:
22037095
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 752; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

REVISITING THE 'FLIP-FLOP' INSTABILITY OF HOYLE-LYTTLETON ACCRETION
Journal Article · Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:21313865

ACCRETION DISKS IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL HOYLE-LYTTLETON FLOW
Journal Article · Sat Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:22126925

BONDI-HOYLE-LYTTLETON ACCRETION ONTO A PROTOPLANETARY DISK
Journal Article · Wed Dec 09 23:00:00 EST 2009 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:21389321