However, we demonstrate that the key source of stellar disc heating is the removal of the gas potential from within the disc. The motion of the disc can result in temporary deformation of the stellar disc. We present a simple analytical description of this process that predicts the drag force strength and its dependency on ram pressures and disc galaxy properties to first order. Using a toy model of ram pressure stripping, we show that this can drag a stellar disc and dark matter cusp off centre within its dark matter halo by several kiloparsecs. We demonstrate that the drag force exerted on truncated gas discs is passed to the stellar disc, and surrounding dark matter through their mutual gravity. Ram pressure stripping principally affects the atomic gas in disc galaxies, stripping away outer disc gas to a truncation radius. This effectively halts star formation in the galaxy, supporting the belief that ram pressure stripping could be one of the processes responsible for the morphology density relation.We investigate the effects of ram pressure stripping on gas-rich disc galaxies in the cluster environment. The result of ram pressure stripping is a galaxy which contains very little cold gas. The Evolution of Magellanic-like Galaxy Pairs and the Production of Magellanic Stream Analogs in Simulations with Tides, Ram Pressure, and Stellar Feedback. This has revealed bright blue stars along the leading edge of the galaxy (bottom of the galaxy in the image). At the same time, the ‘wind’ has pushed the dust and gas that would normally be found ahead of the motion of the galaxy up into the galaxy itself. Streamers of dust and gas can be seen trailing behind the motion of the galaxy, obscuring and reddening the stars behind (top of the galaxy in the image).This observation suggests that the loosely bound dust and gas in the outer regions of the disk has been stripped from the galaxy after the formation of these stars. Red portions of the orbit indicates regions of negative vertical. The circle indicates the position of the orbit of a young-Earth analogue. The stellar disk (blue) appears to extend well beyond the star forming disk of dust and gas. The ram pressure of the stellar wind of 1 Cet.This indicates that the galaxy is having trouble holding onto the loosely bound dust and gas in the outer regions of the disk against the pressure of the ‘wind’. The disk of dust and gas appears bowed.For example, NGC 4402 (right), which is currently falling into the Virgo cluster, shows several clear indicators that ram pressure stripping is at work: ‘Ram pressure stripping’ occurs if this wind is strong enough to overcome the gravitational potential of the galaxy to remove the gas contained within it.Įvidence for ram pressure stripping can be found in many galaxy clusters. As individual galaxies move within such clusters, they experience this intra-cluster gas as a ‘wind’ – much like the wind experienced by a moving bicyclist, even on a still day. Galaxy clusters are permeated by hot, X-ray emitting gas known as the intra-cluster medium. Crowl (Yale University) and WIYN/NOAO/AURA/NSF The bowed and truncated disk, and the concentration of dust and gas to one side of the galaxy are all indicators that ram pressure stripping is forcing gas out of the galaxy. The spiral galaxy, NGC4402, is currently falling towards the centre of the Virgo cluster (downwards in this image).

Stellar ram pressure