Featured Image: Forming Disks and Rings in Galactic Nuclei

These dramatic simulated images (click for the full view) reveal some of the circumnuclear gas structures that can form from the tidal disruption of molecular clouds in the nucleus of a galaxy. In a study led by Alessandro Trani (The University of Tokyo, Japan; International School for Advanced Studies, Italy; INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padua, Italy), a team of scientists has conducted a series of simulations exploring what happens to gas in a galactic nucleus consisting of a supermassive black hole and a nuclear star cluster. Their work shows that the gas can be drawn into extended disks or compact rings, depending on whether the black hole’s influence is stronger than that of the nuclear star cluster. To read more about their outcomes, check out the paper below.

Citation

“Forming Circumnuclear Disks and Rings in Galactic Nuclei: A Competition Between Supermassive Black Hole and Nuclear Star Cluster,” Alessandro A. Trani et al 2018 ApJ 864 17. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aad414