http://arxiv.org/abs/1909.07548
We perform an N-body/hydrodynamics simulation of an isolated Milky Way-like galaxy and demonstrate that the formation epoch of the galactic bar can be identified from the age distribution of the nuclear stellar disc (NSD). The bar formation triggers the gas inflow in the bar region, and the gas inflow reaches the central sub-kpc region followed by an intense star formation for ~1 Gyr. The star formation in the central sub-kpc region forms the thinner, kinematically cooler and rotating NSD component. Consequently, the formation epoch of the galactic bar becomes the oldest limit of the NSD stellar populations, which tells us the formation epoch of the bar. We also discuss that a challenge to measure the age distribution of the NSD in the Milky Way is contamination from the other stellar components, such as a classical bulge component, whose contamination may not be negligible in the central region. We demonstrate that transverse velocities of tracer stars, which will be measured by the near-infrared space astrometry mission, JASMINE, are crucial to kinematically distinguish the NSD from the other stellar component.
J. Baba and D. Kawata
Wed, 18 Sep 19
13/64
Comments: submitted