The effect of a barred potential (such as the one of the Milky Way) on the galactic orbits of forty-eight globular clusters for which absolute proper motions are known is studied. The orbital characteristics are compared with those obtained for the case of an axisymmetric galactic potential. Tidal radii are computed and discussed for both the better known axisymmetric case and that including a ...

One of the most fascinating astronomical discoveries of the last several decades was the gradual realization that almost every massive galaxy, including our own Milky Way, contains a supermassive black hole in its center. Several lines of evidence suggest a fundamental connection between the black holes residing in galaxy centers and the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. One such ...

The local stellar kinematics of the Milky Way offer a useful tool for studying the rotation curve of the Galaxy. These kinematics – usually parameterized by the Oort constants A and B – depend on the local gradient of the rotation curve as well as its absolute value (Θ0), and the Sun’s distance to the Galactic center (R0). The density of interstellar gas in the Milky Way is shown to vary non-mo...

We investigate the role of parametric tidal interactions between cluster galaxies and the cluster potential by considering galaxy and cluster dynamical properties and drawing an analogy between these systems and the Milky Way-dSph system. We suggest that some cluster galaxies are indeed undergoing resonant excitation and argue that this will cause a tendency for alignment of the galaxies’ long ...

We present a phenomenological approach to the study of disk galaxy evolution, based on i) a detailed modelling of the Milky Way (used as a prototype disk galaxy) and ii) an extension of the model to other disks through some simple scaling relations, obtained in the framework of Cold Dark matter models. The main conclusion is that, on average, massive disks have formed the bulk of their stars ea...

We simulate the result of orbital decay for a dwarf satellite galaxy in a disk galaxy potential. The peeling-off of the satellite by the strong tidal field within the disk of the host galaxy quickly reduces the satellite’s mass, and drasticly slows down the decaying of the orbit. The result is generally a cluster on a large halo orbit, like the M54 cluster of the Sagittarius galaxy in the Milky...

Young star clusters with masses similar to those of classical old globular clusters are observed not only in starbursts, mergers or otherwise disturbed galaxies, but also in normal spiral galaxies. Some young clusters with masses as high as ∼ 10 6 M ⊙ have been found in the disks of isolated spirals. Dynamical mass estimates are available for a few of these clusters and are consistent with Krou...