Nature of multiple-nucleus cluster galaxies
In models for the evolution of galaxy clusters which include dynamical friction with the dark binding matter, the distribution of galaxies becomes more concentrated to the cluster center with time. In a cluster like Coma, this evolution could increase by a factor of approximately 3 the probability of finding a galaxy very close to the cluster center, without decreasing the typical velocity of such a galaxy significantly below the cluster mean. Such an enhancement is roughly what is needed to explain the large number of first-ranked cluster galaxies which are observed to have extra ''nuclei''; it is also consistent with the high velocities typically measured for these ''nuclei.'' Unlike the cannibalism model, this model predicts that the majority of multiple-nucleus systems are transient phenomena, and not galaxies in the process of merging.
- Research Organization:
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
- OSTI ID:
- 6674595
- Journal Information:
- Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States), Vol. 280:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Dynamics of rich clusters of galaxies. I. The Coma cluster
The dynamical evolution of dense clusters of compact stars