An interesting case of the formation and evolution of a barred galaxy in the cosmological context

TL;DR

This study uses cosmological simulations to investigate the formation and evolution of a barred galaxy, highlighting the role of mergers and interactions in shaping its properties and suggesting a new class of early-type barred galaxies.

Contribution

It provides a detailed case study of a barred galaxy's history, emphasizing the impact of minor mergers and interactions in its formation within a cosmological context.

Findings

Bar formation triggered by minor mergers and satellite passages.

Galaxy loses gas and dark matter due to interactions with larger galaxies.

Supports existence of a new class of early-type barred galaxies.

Abstract

Elongated, bar-like galaxies without a significant disk component, with little rotation support and no gas, often form as a result of tidal interactions with a galaxy cluster, as was recently demonstrated using the IllustrisTNG-100 simulation. Galaxies that exhibit similar properties are, however, also found to be infalling into the cluster for the first time. We use the same simulation to study in detail the history of such a galaxy over cosmic time in order to determine its origin. The bar appears to be triggered at t=6.8 Gyr by the combined effect of the last significant merger with a subhalo and the first passage of another dwarf satellite, both ten times less massive than the galaxy. The satellites deposit all their gas in the galaxy, contributing to its third and last star-formation episode, which perturbs the disk and may also contribute to the formation of the bar. The galaxy then starts to lose its gas and dark matter due to its passage near a group of more massive galaxies. The strongest interaction involves a galaxy 22 times more massive, leaving the barred galaxy with no gas and half of its maximum dark matter mass. During this time, the bar grows steadily, seemingly unaffected by the interactions, although they may have aided its growth by stripping the gas. The studied galaxy, together with two other similar objects briefly discussed in this letter, suggest the existence of a new class of early-type barred galaxies and thereby demonstrate the importance of interactions in galaxy formation and evolution.