1995/08/08 by Michael R. Merrifield, M. R. Merrifield, Merrifield, Michael R.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9508033
uuencoded compressed postcript, 9 pages. Invited talk at IAU Colloquium #157: Barred Galaxies. The figures (some of which are rather large) are available over the WWW from our preprint server at http://www.astro.soton.ac.uk/pubs/Publications.html
arxiv created 1995/08/08 · openalex publication_date 1995/08/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It has been suggested that the peanut-shaped bulges seen in some edge-on disk galaxies are produced when bars in these galaxies buckle. This paper reviews the modelling which seeks to show how bars buckle, and I present a very simple new model which captures the essential physics of this process. I then discuss the problems in establishing observationally the connection between peanut-shaped bulges and bars: confirmation of the link has proved difficult because boxy bulges are only apparent in edge-on galaxies whereas bars are only easily detectable in more face-on systems. Finally, I present a new technique which avoids this difficulty by searching for the distinctive kinematic signature of an edge-on bar; application of this method to spectra of peanut-shaped bulges reveals that they are, indeed, associated with hidden bars.