New evidence for halo gas accretion onto disk galaxies
arXiv:0807.3365 · doi:10.1017/S1743921308027671
Abstract
Studies of the halo gas in the Milky Way and in nearby spiral galaxies show the presence of gas complexes that cannot be reconciled with an internal (galactic fountain) origin and are direct evidence of gas accretion. Estimating gas accretion rates from these features consistently gives values, which are one order of magnitude lower than what is needed to feed the star formation. I show that this problem can be overcome if most of the accretion is in fact "hidden" as it mixes with the galactic fountain material coming from the disk. This model not only provides an explanation for the missing gas accretion but also reproduces the peculiar kinematics of the halo gas in particular the vertical rotation gradient. In this view this gradient becomes indirect evidence for gas accretion.
7 pages, 5 figures. Invited talk at IAU 254 "The Galaxy Disk in Cosmological Context", Copenhagen, June 9-13, 2008
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