Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

For several decades, it has been known that stellar bars in disc galaxies can be triggered by interactions, or by internal processes such as dynamical instabilities. In this work, we explore the differences between these two mechanisms using numerical simulations. We perform two groups of simulations based on isolated galaxies, one group in which a bar develops naturally, and another group in which the bar could not develop in isolation. The rest of the simulations recreate 1:1 coplanar fly-by interactions computed with the impulse approximation. The orbits we use for the interactions represent the fly-bys in groups or clusters of different masses accordingly to the velocity of the encounter. In the analysis, we focus on bars’ amplitude, size, pattern speed and their rotation parameter, |${\cal R}=R_{{\rm CR}}/R_{{\rm bar}}$|⁠. The latter is used to define fast (⁠|${\cal R}<1.4$|⁠) and slow rotation (⁠|${\cal R}>1.4$|⁠). Compared with equivalent isolated galaxies, we find that bars affected or triggered by interactions: (i) remain in the slow regime for longer, (ii) are more boxy in face-on views and (iii) they host kinematically hotter discs. Within this set of simulations, we do not see strong differences between retrograde or prograde fly-bys. We also show that slow interactions can trigger bar formation.

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics