Unstable Disks at High Redshift: Evidence for Smooth Accretion in Galaxy Formation

Galaxies above redshift 1 can be very clumpy, with irregular morphologies dominated by star complexes as large as 2 kpc and as massive as a few X108 or 109 M . Their co-moving densities and rapid evolution suggest that most present-day spirals could have formed through a clumpy phase. The clumps may...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2009-04, Vol.694 (2), p.L158-L161
Main Authors: Bournaud, Frédéric, Elmegreen, Bruce G
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
cited_by cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3
cites cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3
container_end_page L161
container_issue 2
container_start_page L158
container_title The Astrophysical journal
container_volume 694
creator Bournaud, Frédéric
Elmegreen, Bruce G
description Galaxies above redshift 1 can be very clumpy, with irregular morphologies dominated by star complexes as large as 2 kpc and as massive as a few X108 or 109 M . Their co-moving densities and rapid evolution suggest that most present-day spirals could have formed through a clumpy phase. The clumps may form by gravitational instabilities in gas-rich turbulent disks; they do not appear to be separate galaxies merging together. We show here that the formation of the observed clumps requires initial disks of gas and stars with almost no stabilizing bulge or stellar halo. This cannot be achieved in models where disk galaxies grow by mergers. Mergers tend to make stellar spheroids even when the gas fraction is high, and then the disk is too stable to make giant clumps. The morphology of high-redshift galaxies thus suggests that inner disks assemble mostly by smooth gas accretion, either from cosmological flows or from the outer disk during a grazing interaction.
doi_str_mv 10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/L158
format article
fullrecord <record><control><sourceid>proquest_cross</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_743341363</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>20552376</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNqNkU1LwzAYgIsoOKf_wENOepDafKf1NnQfwkCYDryFNE1ctG1m04n797bMww4iO-UlPM97eJ8oukTwFsE0TSCENOZEvCY8owlO5oilR9EAMZLGlDBxvDefRmchvPcGzrJBtFjWoVV5acCDCx8BqBbM3NsKLEwRVs62d2D85QpTawOsb8Bz5X27AiOtG9M6XwNXg6kq1fcWTHxTqf7vPDqxqgzm4vcdRsvJ-OV-Fs-fpo_3o3msGUrbWOQWI5YjW0CcZwpznnLIaGozSnLNMsg5U5TDQtOcEgq5YNBkxmglWKqNJcPoerd33fjPjQmtrFzQpixVbfwmSEEJoYhw0pFX_5IYMoaJ4AeAVDAmWAfSHagbH0JjrFw3rlLNViIo-yayv7Dsm8iuicSyb9JpyU5zfn2ocfOH0cWUfcw9Uq4LS34A-MCZmQ</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>20475575</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>Unstable Disks at High Redshift: Evidence for Smooth Accretion in Galaxy Formation</title><source>EZB Electronic Journals Library</source><creator>Bournaud, Frédéric ; Elmegreen, Bruce G</creator><creatorcontrib>Bournaud, Frédéric ; Elmegreen, Bruce G</creatorcontrib><description>Galaxies above redshift 1 can be very clumpy, with irregular morphologies dominated by star complexes as large as 2 kpc and as massive as a few X108 or 109 M . Their co-moving densities and rapid evolution suggest that most present-day spirals could have formed through a clumpy phase. The clumps may form by gravitational instabilities in gas-rich turbulent disks; they do not appear to be separate galaxies merging together. We show here that the formation of the observed clumps requires initial disks of gas and stars with almost no stabilizing bulge or stellar halo. This cannot be achieved in models where disk galaxies grow by mergers. Mergers tend to make stellar spheroids even when the gas fraction is high, and then the disk is too stable to make giant clumps. The morphology of high-redshift galaxies thus suggests that inner disks assemble mostly by smooth gas accretion, either from cosmological flows or from the outer disk during a grazing interaction.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1538-4357</identifier><identifier>ISSN: 0004-637X</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1538-4357</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/L158</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>IOP Publishing</publisher><ispartof>The Astrophysical journal, 2009-04, Vol.694 (2), p.L158-L161</ispartof><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3</cites></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><link.rule.ids>314,776,780,27901,27902</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Bournaud, Frédéric</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Elmegreen, Bruce G</creatorcontrib><title>Unstable Disks at High Redshift: Evidence for Smooth Accretion in Galaxy Formation</title><title>The Astrophysical journal</title><description>Galaxies above redshift 1 can be very clumpy, with irregular morphologies dominated by star complexes as large as 2 kpc and as massive as a few X108 or 109 M . Their co-moving densities and rapid evolution suggest that most present-day spirals could have formed through a clumpy phase. The clumps may form by gravitational instabilities in gas-rich turbulent disks; they do not appear to be separate galaxies merging together. We show here that the formation of the observed clumps requires initial disks of gas and stars with almost no stabilizing bulge or stellar halo. This cannot be achieved in models where disk galaxies grow by mergers. Mergers tend to make stellar spheroids even when the gas fraction is high, and then the disk is too stable to make giant clumps. The morphology of high-redshift galaxies thus suggests that inner disks assemble mostly by smooth gas accretion, either from cosmological flows or from the outer disk during a grazing interaction.</description><issn>1538-4357</issn><issn>0004-637X</issn><issn>1538-4357</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2009</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNqNkU1LwzAYgIsoOKf_wENOepDafKf1NnQfwkCYDryFNE1ctG1m04n797bMww4iO-UlPM97eJ8oukTwFsE0TSCENOZEvCY8owlO5oilR9EAMZLGlDBxvDefRmchvPcGzrJBtFjWoVV5acCDCx8BqBbM3NsKLEwRVs62d2D85QpTawOsb8Bz5X27AiOtG9M6XwNXg6kq1fcWTHxTqf7vPDqxqgzm4vcdRsvJ-OV-Fs-fpo_3o3msGUrbWOQWI5YjW0CcZwpznnLIaGozSnLNMsg5U5TDQtOcEgq5YNBkxmglWKqNJcPoerd33fjPjQmtrFzQpixVbfwmSEEJoYhw0pFX_5IYMoaJ4AeAVDAmWAfSHagbH0JjrFw3rlLNViIo-yayv7Dsm8iuicSyb9JpyU5zfn2ocfOH0cWUfcw9Uq4LS34A-MCZmQ</recordid><startdate>20090401</startdate><enddate>20090401</enddate><creator>Bournaud, Frédéric</creator><creator>Elmegreen, Bruce G</creator><general>IOP Publishing</general><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>7TG</scope><scope>KL.</scope><scope>8FD</scope><scope>H8D</scope><scope>L7M</scope></search><sort><creationdate>20090401</creationdate><title>Unstable Disks at High Redshift: Evidence for Smooth Accretion in Galaxy Formation</title><author>Bournaud, Frédéric ; Elmegreen, Bruce G</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2009</creationdate><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Bournaud, Frédéric</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Elmegreen, Bruce G</creatorcontrib><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>Meteorological &amp; Geoastrophysical Abstracts</collection><collection>Meteorological &amp; Geoastrophysical Abstracts - Academic</collection><collection>Technology Research Database</collection><collection>Aerospace Database</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies Database with Aerospace</collection><jtitle>The Astrophysical journal</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Bournaud, Frédéric</au><au>Elmegreen, Bruce G</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Unstable Disks at High Redshift: Evidence for Smooth Accretion in Galaxy Formation</atitle><jtitle>The Astrophysical journal</jtitle><date>2009-04-01</date><risdate>2009</risdate><volume>694</volume><issue>2</issue><spage>L158</spage><epage>L161</epage><pages>L158-L161</pages><issn>1538-4357</issn><issn>0004-637X</issn><eissn>1538-4357</eissn><abstract>Galaxies above redshift 1 can be very clumpy, with irregular morphologies dominated by star complexes as large as 2 kpc and as massive as a few X108 or 109 M . Their co-moving densities and rapid evolution suggest that most present-day spirals could have formed through a clumpy phase. The clumps may form by gravitational instabilities in gas-rich turbulent disks; they do not appear to be separate galaxies merging together. We show here that the formation of the observed clumps requires initial disks of gas and stars with almost no stabilizing bulge or stellar halo. This cannot be achieved in models where disk galaxies grow by mergers. Mergers tend to make stellar spheroids even when the gas fraction is high, and then the disk is too stable to make giant clumps. The morphology of high-redshift galaxies thus suggests that inner disks assemble mostly by smooth gas accretion, either from cosmological flows or from the outer disk during a grazing interaction.</abstract><pub>IOP Publishing</pub><doi>10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/L158</doi></addata></record>
fulltext fulltext
identifier ISSN: 1538-4357
ispartof The Astrophysical journal, 2009-04, Vol.694 (2), p.L158-L161
issn 1538-4357
0004-637X
1538-4357
language eng
recordid cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_743341363
source EZB Electronic Journals Library
title Unstable Disks at High Redshift: Evidence for Smooth Accretion in Galaxy Formation
url http://sfxeu10.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/loughborough?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-01-30T14%3A27%3A04IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-proquest_cross&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Unstable%20Disks%20at%20High%20Redshift:%20Evidence%20for%20Smooth%20Accretion%20in%20Galaxy%20Formation&rft.jtitle=The%20Astrophysical%20journal&rft.au=Bournaud,%20Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric&rft.date=2009-04-01&rft.volume=694&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=L158&rft.epage=L161&rft.pages=L158-L161&rft.issn=1538-4357&rft.eissn=1538-4357&rft_id=info:doi/10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/L158&rft_dat=%3Cproquest_cross%3E20552376%3C/proquest_cross%3E%3Cgrp_id%3Ecdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c518t-7bf215b1fd02b9a266860548f943bc590665a460dc4b43406750e9eeca758cef3%3C/grp_id%3E%3Coa%3E%3C/oa%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=20475575&rft_id=info:pmid/&rfr_iscdi=true