The Milky Ways bar dominates the orbits of stars and the flow of cold gas in the inner Galaxy, and is therefore of major importance for Milky Way dynamical studies in the Gaia era. Here we discuss the pronounced peanut shape of the Galactic bulge tha
t has resulted from recent star count analysis, in particular from the VVV survey. We also discuss the question whether the Milky Way has an inner disky pseudo-bulge, and show preliminary evidence for a continuous transition in vertical scale-height from the peanut bulge-bar to the planar long bar.
The Galactic bulge is now considered to be the inner three-dimensional part of the Milky Ways bar. It has a peanut shape and is characterized by cylindrical rotation. In N-body simulations, box/peanut bulges arise from disks through bar and buckling
instabilities. Models of this kind explain much of the structure and kinematics of the Galactic bulge and, in principle, also its vertical metallicity gradient. Cosmological disk galaxy formation models with high resolution and improved feedback models are now able to generate late-type disk galaxies with disk-like or barred bulges. These bulges often contain an early collapse stellar population and a population driven by later disk instabilities. Due to the inside-out disk formation, these bulges can be predominantly old, similar to the Milky Way bulge.
We derive new constraints on the mass, rotation, orbit structure and statistical parallax of the Galactic old nuclear star cluster (NSC) and the mass of the supermassive black hole. We combine star counts and kinematic data from Fritz et al (2014), i
ncluding 2500 line-of-sight velocities and 10000 proper motions. We show that the difference between the proper motion dispersions sigma_l and sigma_b cannot be explained by rotation, but is a consequence of the flattening of the NSC. We fit the surface density distribution of stars in the central 1000 by a spheroidal cluster with scale ~100 and a much larger nuclear disk component. We compute the two-integral distribution function f(E,Lz) for this density model, and add rotation self-consistently. We find that: (i) The orbit structure of the f(E,Lz) gives an excellent match to the observed velocity dispersion profiles as well as the proper motion and line-of-sight velocity histograms, including the double-peak in the v_l-histograms. (ii) This requires an axial ratio of q= 0.73+-0.04 for r<70 consistent with our determination from star counts. (iii) The NSC is approximately described by an isotropic rotator model. (iv) Using the corresponding Jeans equations to fit the proper motion and line-of-sight velocity dispersions, we obtain best estimates for the NSC mass, black hole mass, and distance M*(r<100)=(8.94+-0.31|stat+-0.9|syst)x10^6Msun, Mbh=(3.86+-0.14|stat+-0.4|syst)x10^6Msun, and R0=8.27+-0.09|stat+-0.1|syst kpc, where the systematic errors estimate additional uncertainties in the dynamical modeling. (v) The combination of the cluster dynamics with the S-star orbits around Sgr A* strongly reduces the degeneracy between black hole mass and Galactic centre distance present in previous S-star studies. A joint statistical analysis with the results of Gillessen et al (2009) gives Mbh=(4.23+-0.14)x10^6Msun and R0=8.33+-0.11kpc.
The spatial distributions of luminous and dark matter in massive early-type galaxies reflect the formation processes which shaped these systems. This article reviews the predictions of cosmological simulations for the dark and baryonic components of
ETGs, and the observational constraints from lensing, hydrostatic X-ray gas athmospheres, and outer halo stellar dynamics.
We study the dark and luminous mass distributions, circular velocity curves (CVC), line-of-sight kinematics, and angular momenta for a sample of 42 cosmological zoom simulations of massive galaxies. Using a temporal smoothing technique, we are able t
o reach large radii. We find that: (i)The dark matter halo density profiles outside a few kpc follow simple power-law models, with flat dark matter CVCs for lower-mass systems, and rising CVCs for high-mass haloes. The projected stellar density distributions at large radii can be fitted by Sersic functions with n>10, larger than for typical ETGs. (ii)The massive systems have nearly flat total CVCs at large radii, while the less massive systems have mildly decreasing CVCs. The slope of the CVC at large radii correlates with v_circ itself. (iii)The dark matter fractions within Re are in the range 15-30% and increase to 40-65% at 5Re. Larger and more massive galaxies have higher dark matter fractions. (iv)The short axes of simulated galaxies and their host dark matter haloes are well aligned and their short-to-long axis ratios are correlated. (v)The stellar vrms(R) profiles are slowly declining, in agreement with planetary nebulae observations in the outer haloes of most ETGs. (vi)The line-of-sight velocity fields v show that rotation properties at small and large radii are correlated. Most radial profiles for the cumulative specific angular momentum parameter lambda(R) are nearly flat or slightly rising, with values in [0.06,0.75] from 2Re to 5Re. (vii)Stellar mass, ellipticity at 5Re, and lambda(5Re) are correlated: the more massive systems have less angular momentum and are rounder, as for observed ETGs. (viii)More massive galaxies with a large fraction of accreted stars have radially anisotropic velocity distributions outside Re. Tangential anisotropy is seen only for galaxies with high fraction of in-situ stars. (Full abstract in PDF)
We create dynamical models of the massive elliptical galaxy, NGC 4649, using the N-body made-to-measure code, NMAGIC, and kinematic constraints from long-slit and planetary nebula (PN) data. We explore a range of potentials based on previous determin
ations from X-ray observations and a dynamical model fitting globular cluster (GC) velocities and a stellar density profile. The X-ray mass distributions are similar in the central region but have varying outer slopes, while the GC mass profile is higher in the central region and on the upper end of the range further out. Our models cannot differentiate between the potentials in the central region, and therefore if non-thermal pressures or multi-phase components are present in the hot gas, they must be smaller than previously inferred. In the halo, we find that the PN velocities are sensitive tracers of the mass, preferring a less massive halo than that derived from the GC mass profile, but similar to one of the mass distributions derived from X-rays. Our results show that the GCs may form a dynamically distinct system, and that the properties of the hot gas derived from X-rays in the outer halo have considerable uncertainties that need to be better understood. Estimating the mass in stars using photometric information and a stellar population mass-to-light ratio, we infer a dark matter mass fraction in NGC 4649 of ~0.39 at 1Re (10.5 kpc) and ~0.78 at 4Re. We find that the stellar orbits are isotropic to mildly radial in the central ~6 kpc depending on the potential assumed. Further out, the orbital structure becomes slightly more radial along R and more isotropic along z, regardless of the potential assumed. In the equatorial plane, azimuthal velocity dispersions dominate over meridional velocity dispersions, implying that meridional velocity anisotropy is the mechanism for flattening the stellar system.
Recent progress is summarized on the determination of the density distributions of stars and dark matter, stellar kinematics, and stellar population properties, in the extended, low surface brightness halo regions of elliptical galaxies. With integra
l field absorption spectroscopy and with planetary nebulae as tracers, velocity dispersion and rotation profiles have been followed to ~4 and ~5-8 effective radii, respectively, and in M87 to the outer edge at ~150 kpc. The results are generally consistent with the known dichotomy of elliptical galaxy types, but some galaxies show more complex rotation profiles in their halos and there is a higher incidence of misalignments, indicating triaxiality. Dynamical models have shown a range of slopes for the total mass profiles, and that the inner dark matter densities in ellipticals are higher than in spiral galaxies, indicating earlier assembly redshifts. Analysis of the hot X-ray emitting gas in X-ray bright ellipticals and comparison with dynamical mass determinations indicates that non-thermal components to the pressure may be important in the inner ~10 kpc, and that the properties of these systems are closely related to their group environments. First results on the outer halo stellar population properties do not yet give a clear picture. In the halo of one bright galaxy, lower [alpha/Fe] abundances indicate longer star formation histories pointing towards late accretion of the halo. This is consistent with independent evidence for on-going accretion, and suggests a connection to the observed size evolution of elliptical galaxies with redshift.
We use a new non-parametric Bayesian approach to obtain the most probable mass distributions and circular velocity curves along with their confidence ranges, given deprojected density and temperature profiles of the hot gas surrounding X-ray bright e
lliptical galaxies. For a sample of six X-ray bright ellipticals, we find that all circular velocity curves are rising in the outer parts due to a combination of a rising temperature profile and a logarithmic pressure gradient that increases in magnitude. Comparing the circular velocity curves we obtain from X-rays to those obtained from dynamical models, we find that the former are often lower in the central ~10 kpc. This is probably due to a combination of: i) Non-thermal contributions of up to ~35% in the pressure (with stronger effects in NGC 4486), ii) multiple-temperature components in the hot gas, iii) incomplete kinematic spatial coverage in the dynamical models, and iv) mass profiles that are insufficiently general in the dynamical modelling. Complementing the total mass information from the X-rays with photometry and stellar population models to infer the dark matter content, we find evidence for massive dark matter haloes with dark matter mass fractions of ~35-80% at 2Re, rising to a maximum of 80-90% at the outermost radii. We also find that the six galaxies follow a Tully-Fisher relation with slope ~4 and that their circular velocities at 1Re correlate strongly with the velocity dispersion of the local environment. As a result, the galaxy luminosity at 1Re also correlates with the velocity dispersion of the environment. These relations suggest a close link between the properties of central X-ray bright elliptical galaxies and their environments (abridged).
We study the stellar population far into the halo of one of the two brightest galaxies in the Coma cluster, NGC 4889, based on deep medium resolution spectroscopy with FOCAS at the Subaru 8.2m telescope. We fit single stellar population models to the
measured line-strength (Lick) indices (Hbeta, Mgb, [MgFe] and <Fe>). Combining with literature data, we construct radial profiles of metallicity, [alpha/Fe] element abundance ratio and age for NGC 4889, from the center out to ~60 kpc (~4Re). We find evidence for different chemical and star formation histories for stars inside and outside 1.2Re = 18 kpc radius. The inner regions are characterized by a steep [Z/H] gradient and high [alpha/Fe] at ~2.5 times solar value. In the halo, between 18 and 60 kpc, the [Z/H] is near-solar with a shallow gradient, while [alpha/Fe] shows a strong negative gradient, reaching solar values at ~60 kpc. We interpret these data in terms of different formation histories for both components. The data for the inner galaxy are consistent with a rapid, quasi-monolithic, dissipative merger origin at early redshifts, followed by one or at most a few dry mergers. Those for the halo argue for later accretion of stars from old systems with more extended star formation histories. The half-light radius of the inner component alone is estimated as ~6 kpc, suggesting a significantly smaller size of this galaxy in the past. This may be the local stellar population signature of the size evolution found for early-type galaxies from high-redshift observations.
A brief review is given of different methods used to determine the pattern speeds of the Galactic bar and spiral arms. The Galactic bar rotates rapidly, with corotation about halfway between the Galactic center and the Sun, and outer Lindblad resonan
ce not far from the solar orbit, R0. The Galactic spiral arms currently rotate with a distinctly slower pattern speed, such that corotation is just outside R0. Both structures therefore seem dynamically decoupled.
