Astrophysics (Index)About

radial mixing

(radial orbit mixing, radial orbit migration, radial-orbit instability)
(tendency of disk galaxy stars to change their orbital radius)

The term radial mixing (radial orbit mixing, radial orbit migration, or radial-orbit instability) refers to the phenomenon of stars changing their distance from the center of the galaxy through their lifetime. Models and observation suggest this occurs, and it is a factor in the interpretation of the star formation history of spiral galaxies, i.e., looking at the characteristics of stars at a particular radius does not fully reflect the previous star formation at that radius. The phenomenon could be relevant to the G-dwarf problem. Long-known epicycles in stellar orbits are a part of the phenomenon.


The term radial mixing is also used regarding the material of protoplanetary disks, considering it to be a factor in planet formation, perhaps incorporating some of the same theory as that for disk galaxies (e.g., Lindblad resonance).


(galaxies,spiral,orbits)
Further reading:
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012MNRAS.420..913B/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009MNRAS.397.1599Q/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002MNRAS.336..785S/abstract
https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March01/Merritt2/Merritt6.html#6.2

Referenced by page:
inside-out growth

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