Self-consistent modelling of the Milky Way structure using live potentials

Durán-Camacho, Eva, Duarte Cabral, Ana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5259-4774, Pettitt, Alex R., Treß, Robin G., Clark, Paul C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4834-043X, Klesson, Ralf S., Bogue, Kamran R. J., Smith, Rowan J. and Sormani, Mattia C. 2024. Self-consistent modelling of the Milky Way structure using live potentials. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 532 (1) , pp. 126-148. 10.1093/mnras/stae1469

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (3MB)

Abstract

To advance our understanding of the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy, numerical models of Milky Way (MW) type galaxies are widely used. However, most models only vaguely resemble the MW (e.g. in total mass), and often use imposed analytic potentials (which cannot evolve dynamically). This poses a problem in asserting their applicability for the interpretation of observations of our own Galaxy. The goal of this work is to identify a numerical model that is not only an MW-type galaxy, but one that can mimic some of the main observed structures of our Galaxy, using dynamically evolving potentials, so that it can be used as a base model to study the ISM cycle in a galaxy like our own. This paper introduces a suite of 15 MW-type galaxy models developed using the AREPO numerical code, that are compared to Galactic observations of CO and H I emission via longitude–velocity plots, from where we extract and compare the skeletons of major galactic features and the terminal gas velocities. We found that our best-fitting model to the overall structure, also reproduces some of the more specific observed features of the MW, including a bar with a pattern speed of km s  kpc ⁠, and a bar half-length of  kpc. Our model shows large streaming motions around spiral arms, and strong radial motions well beyond the inner bar. This model highlights the complex motions of a dynamic MW-type galaxy and has the potential to offer valuable insight into how our Galaxy regulates the ISM and star formation.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0035-8711
Funders:	STFC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 June 2024
Date of Acceptance:	5 June 2024
Last Modified:	02 Oct 2024 12:20
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170160

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item