The morphology of the Milky Way – I. Reconstructing CO maps from simulations in fixed potentials

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 444; no. 1; pp. 919 - 941
• Main Authors: Pettitt, Alex R., Dobbs, Clare L., Acreman, David M., Price, Daniel J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 11.10.2014
• Subjects: Astronomy; Cooling; Fluid mechanics; Gravity; Milky Way; Morphology; hydrodynamics; Galaxy: structure; galaxies: spiral; radiative transfer; ISM: structure; ISM: kinematics and dynamics

We present an investigation into the morphological features of the Milky Way. We use smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to simulate the interstellar medium (ISM) in the Milky Way under the effect of a number of different gravitational potentials representing spiral arms and bars, assuming that th...