L. A. Aguilar (IAUNAM/Mexico)
Galaxies are collisionless systems and thus, orbits are their basic building blocks. Advances in technology are getting us to the point where we can study them in galaxies. On the observational side, the ever improving angular resolution, coupled with integral field spectroscopy, are giving us a very detailed kinematical picture. On the numerical side, N-body codes are getting to the point where numerical relaxation can be brought down during cosmological time spans and thus study orbits in N-body systems, rather than trajectories that are a collage of orbits.
In this presentation we will talk about the role of orbits in galactic dynamics. We will illustrate their importance using Schwarszchild´s method to build galaxies. We will also show how local properties of orbits influence global charactersitics of galaxies, like activity at their centers.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: aguilar@astrosen.unam.mx
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.