Massive Accretion Disks
Scoville, N. Z.
Original · EN
Recent high resolution near infrared (HST-NICMOS) and mm-interferometric imaging have revealed dense gas and dust accretion disks in nearby ultra-luminous galactic nuclei. In the best studied ultraluminous IR galaxy, Arp 220, the 2 micron imaging shows dust disks in both of the merging galactic nuclei and mm-CO line imaging indicates molecular gas masses approx. 10⁹ Mₛun for each disk. The two gas disks in Arp 220 are counterrotating and their dynamical masses are approx. 2x10⁹ Mₛun, that is, only slightly larger than the gas masses. These disks have radii approx 100 pc and thickness 10-50 pc. The high brightness temperatures of the CO lines indicate that the gas in the disks has area filling factors of approx. 25-50% and mean densities of > 10⁴ cm(-3). Within these nuclear disks, the rate of massive star formation is undoubtedly prodigious and, given the high viscosity of the gas, there will also be high radial accretion rates, perhaps > 10 Mₛun/yr. If this inflow persists to very small radii, it is enough to feed even the highest luminosity AGNs.
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