Variation of Galactic Bar Length with Amplitude and Density as Evidence for Bar Growth over a Hubble Time

[unk] -band images of 20 barred galaxies show an increase in the peak amplitude of the normalized m = 2 Fourier component with the R sub(25) -normalized radius at this peak. This implies that longer bars have higher m = 2 amplitudes. The long bars also correlate with an increased density in the cent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2007-12, Vol.670 (2), p.L97-L100
Main Authors: Elmegreen, Bruce G, Elmegreen, Debra Meloy, Knapen, Johan H, Buta, Ronald J, Block, David L, Puerari, Ivânio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
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Summary:[unk] -band images of 20 barred galaxies show an increase in the peak amplitude of the normalized m = 2 Fourier component with the R sub(25) -normalized radius at this peak. This implies that longer bars have higher m = 2 amplitudes. The long bars also correlate with an increased density in the central parts of the disks, as measured by the luminosity inside 0.25R sub(25) divided by the cube of this radius in kpc. Because denser galaxies evolve faster, these correlations suggest that bars grow in length and amplitude over a Hubble time, with the fastest evolution occurring in the densest galaxies. All but three of the sample have early-type flat bars; there is no clear correlation between the correlated quantities and the Hubble type.
ISSN:1538-4357
0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/524359