Seminar by Rachel McClure, UW Madison
Galactic bars and their associated resonances play a significant role in shaping galaxy evolution. Resulting resonance-driven structures like the vertically extended Boxy/Peanut X-Feature (BPX) then serve as a useful probe of the host galaxy's history. The emergence and subsequent evolution of the BPX through resonance evolution has remained controversial for over thirty years, despite ample study. In this talk I present proof that the resonance crossing and passage pathway is sufficient to populate the BPX. I show that the steadiness of the resonance crossing process is governed by the overall fraction of vertically extended orbits, and so intrinsically tied to the overall vertical extension of the galaxy and inclusion of a significant classical bulge. I will discuss the implications of our results for the interpretation of observed morphological features across cosmological epochs and in a variety of galactic environments, and prospects for future work.
Host: Emily Cunningham