3D spectroscopic study of galactic rings: formation and kinematics

TL;DR

This review discusses the formation and kinematics of galactic rings, highlighting their origins, relation to dark matter, and the importance of gas velocity studies using Fabry-Perot interferometers.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of different types of galactic rings, their formation mechanisms, and the role of gas kinematics in understanding their evolution.

Findings

Galactic rings form through various processes including gravitational torques and galaxy interactions.

Gas velocity fields are crucial for studying ring dynamics and origins.

Fabry-Perot interferometers are key tools in analyzing ionized gas kinematics.

Abstract

In this review we consider various ring structures that are observed in galaxies. Formation and evolution of the rings are interesting problems in studies of galactic morphology. They are related to such fundamental aspects of galactic evolution and dynamics as the nature and distribution of the dark matter in galaxies, galactic interactions and internal secular evolution of galactic substructures. A significant fraction of galactic rings forms in the disks due to gravitational torques from bar-like patterns. In contrast to this internally driven origin, the phenomenon of the polar-ring galaxies is closely connected with the processes of intergalactic interactions and merging. A rare class of collisional rings reveals the density waves triggered in the stellar and gaseous disks after a strong head-on collision with a companion. We briefly review the status of studies of gas kinematics in the rings of different origin. We stress that velocity fields of the ionized gas obtained with the Fabry-Perot interferometers provide a very important information for these studies.