Abstract
Abstract In the Milky Way, older stars tend to have higher vertical velocity dispersions and comprise a thicker component of the stellar disk. Historically, this has been attributed to the gradual vertical heating of stellar orbits. A competing explanation suggests that stars may have formed in thicker disks at earlier times, inheriting the turbulent velocities of the gas in which they formed. As the gas velocity dispersion in disks declines with time, stars should form in thinner disks. Both explanations are consistent with today’s Milky Way. We present a novel technique to break this degeneracy by indirectly measuring the vertical stellar velocity dispersion of high redshift galaxies using Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We assess this method using a high-resolution hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulation. By comparing the true vertical velocity dispersion of the simulated disk against what is inferred through its synthetic images, we demonstrate the potential of this approach.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
