Constraints on secular evolution in unbarred spiral galaxies: disentangling disk heating agents

Seidel, M. K.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Shapiro Griffin, K.; Gerssen, J.
Bibliographical reference

Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VII, Proceedings of the X Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), held in Valencia, July 9 - 13, 2012, Eds.: J.C. Guirado, L.M. Lara, V. Quilis, and J. Gorgas., pp.411-417

Advertised on:
5
2013
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The evolution of spiral galaxies is far from being completely understood, especially in terms of internal secular evolution. To address this problem, we combine the kinematics and stellar population parameters extracted from long slit spectra of major and minor axis of six galaxies in order to disentangle disk heating agents. Including arm class and molecular gas surface density measurements we conclude that spiral structure could be the major driver for radial heating mechanisms. However, scattering by giant molecular clouds cannot be ruled out as a three-dimensional agent.