Double Bars and Inner Disks in Barred Galaxies

Erwin, P.
Bibliographical reference

Disks of Galaxies: Kinematics, Dynamics and Peturbations, ASP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 275. Edited by E. Athanassoula, A. Bosma, and R. Mujica. ISBN: 1-58381-117-6. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2002, pp. 271-274

Advertised on:
12
2002
Number of authors
1
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
I present results of a high-resolution imaging survey of barred S0--Sa galaxies which show that the central regions of these galaxies are surprisingly complex, and often dominated by dynamically cool components. In particular, inner bars --- secondary, small-scale bars (typically less than a kiloparsec in radius) located inside of, and probably rotating faster than, the large-scale primary bars --- are present in about one quarter to one third of all such galaxies. A third of SB0's appear to host kiloparsec-scale disks within their large-scale bars; but the frequency of such inner disks is much lower for later Hubble types. I also include results from an ongoing analysis of about 50 known double-barred systems (extending to Hubble types as late as Sbc), and discuss their characteristic sizes, orientations, and implications for the nature of these structures.