Bibcode
DOI
Fathi, Kambiz; Toonen, Silvia; Falcón-Barroso, Jesús; Beckman, John E.; Hernandez, Olivier; Daigle, Olivier; Carignan, Claude; de Zeeuw, Tim
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 667, Issue 2, pp. L137-L140.
Advertised on:
10
2007
Journal
Citations
38
Refereed citations
32
Description
We study the two-dimensional kinematics of the Hα-emitting gas in
the nearby barred Scd galaxy NGC 6946, in order to determine the pattern
speed of the primary m=2 perturbation mode. The pattern speed is a
crucial parameter for constraining the internal dynamics, estimating the
impact velocities of the gravitational perturbation at the resonance
radii, and setting up an evolutionary scenario for NGC 6946. Our data
allow us to derive the best-fitting kinematic position angle and the
geometry of the underlying gaseous disk, which we use to derive the
pattern speed using the Tremaine-Weinberg method. We find a main pattern
speed ΩPp=22+4-1 km
s-1 kpc-1, but our data clearly reveal the
presence of an additional pattern speed
ΩSp=47+3-2 km
s-1 kpc-1 in a zone within 1.25 kpc of the
nucleus. Using the epicyclic approximation, we deduce the location of
the resonance radii and confirm that inside the outer inner Lindblad
resonance radius of the main oval, a primary bar has formed rotating at
more than twice the outer pattern speed. We further confirm that a
nuclear bar has formed inside the inner Lindblad resonance radius of the
primary bar, coinciding with the inner inner Lindblad resonance radius
of the large-scale m=2 mode oval.