Flight of a galaxy through the gas of a cluster of galaxies
Joachim Köppen Kiel July 2016
Some brief explanations
This is a simulation of the flight of a galaxy through the hot gas which resides
in a cluster of galaxies. The motion of the galaxy is in the gravitational field
due to the dark matter and the gas. The densities of dark matter and the gas are
decribed by beta-profiles (or NFW profiles) which are characterized by the radius
and the density near the centre. As the gas is most dense in the centre,
a galaxy which is in a free fall (or a highly eccentric orbit) experiences during
its flight to the cluster centre a steadily increasing ram pressure, which is responsible
for stripping the galaxy of its own interstellar gas.
Cluster properties Dark matter beta core radius [kpc] central density [Msun/pc³] central density [g/cm³]
Intracluster gas beta core radius [kpc] central density [1/cm³] central density [g/cm³] central density [Msun/pc³]
at radius [Mpc]
DM mass [Msun]
ICM mass [Msun]
Flight conditions
initial x [Mpc]
initial y [Mpc]
initial vx [km/s]
initial vy [km/s]
time step [Gyr]
time ticks
time span [Gyr]
time now [Gyr]