The Shearing HI Spiral Pattern of NGC 1365

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to measure the radial variation of spiral pattern speed in NGC 1365, revealing a shearing pattern that challenges traditional density-wave theories and suggests a winding spiral structure.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel solution to the Tremaine-Weinberg equations allowing for variable pattern speed, and demonstrate its application to NGC 1365, providing evidence for a shearing, non-constant pattern speed.

Findings

Pattern speed varies approximately as 1/r

No clear corotation or Lindblad resonances detected

Spiral pattern winding timescale ~ 500 Myrs

Abstract

The Tremaine-Weinberg equations are solved for a pattern speed that is allowed to vary with radius. The solution method transforms an integral equation for the pattern speed to a least squares problem with well established procedures for statistical analysis. The method applied to the HI spiral pattern of the barred, grand-design galaxy NGC 1365 produced convincing evidence for a radial dependence in the pattern speed. The pattern speed behaves approximately as 1/r, and is very similar to the material speed. There are no clear indications of corotation or Lindblad resonances. Tests show that the results are not selection biased, and that the method is not measuring the material speed. Other methods of solving the Tremaine-Weinberg equations for shearing patterns were found to produce results in agreement with those obtained using the current method. Previous estimates that relied on the assumptions of the density-wave interpretation of spiral structure are inconsistent with the results obtained using the current method. The results are consistent with spiral structure theories that allow for shearing patterns, and contradict fundamental assumptions in the density-wave interpretation that are often used for finding spiral arm pattern speeds. The spiral pattern is winding on a characteristic timescale of ~ 500 Myrs.