20
August
2010
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Medical Center employee involved in fatal accident on Saturday's Pelotonia ride

The panel illustrates the complexity of dynamical evolution in a typical collision between two equal-mass disk galaxies. The simulation follows dark matter, stars, gas, and supermassive black holes, but only the gas component is visualized. Brighter colors indicate regions of higher gas density and the time corresponding to each snapshot is given by the labels. The first 10 panel images measure 100 kpc on a side, roughly five times the diameter of the visible part of the Milky Way galaxy. The next five panels represent successive zooms on the central region. The final frame shows the inner 300 pc of the nuclear region at the end of the simulation. On two accompanying videos -- here and here -- during the interaction, violent tidal forces tear the galactic disks apart, generating spectacular tidal tails, plumes and prominent bridges of material connecting the two galaxies. The ultimate outcome of a series of increasingly close encounters is the inevitable merger of the disk galaxies into a single structure and the formation of a nuclear disk as shown in the last panel. The simulated nuclear disks have masses of approximately a billion solar masses and exhibit prominent non-axisymmetric features known to produce strong gas inflows. The gas inflows are likely responsible for fueling the central black hole, but even higher resolution will be needed to study this process in detail. Nevertheless, the simulations carried out by Kazantzidis and his collaborators provide the first direct evidence that gas originally in galaxies separated by hundreds of kiloparsecs is collected to sub-parsec scales simply as a result of the dynamics and hydrodynamics involved in the merger process.
The panel illustrates the complexity of dynamical evolution in a typical collision between two equal-mass disk galaxies. The simulation follows dark matter, stars, gas, and supermassive black holes, but only the gas component is visualized. Brighter colors indicate regions of higher gas density and the time corresponding to each snapshot is given by the labels. The first 10 panel images measure 100 kpc on a side, roughly five times the diameter of the visible part of the Milky Way galaxy. The next five panels represent successive zooms on the central region. The final frame shows the inner 300 pc of the nuclear region at the end of the simulation. On two accompanying videos -- here and here -- during the interaction, violent tidal forces tear the galactic disks apart, generating spectacular tidal tails, plumes and prominent bridges of material connecting the two galaxies. The ultimate outcome of a series of increasingly close encounters is the inevitable merger of the disk galaxies into a single structure and the formation of a nuclear disk as shown in the last panel. The simulated nuclear disks have masses of approximately a billion solar masses and exhibit prominent non-axisymmetric features known to produce strong gas inflows. The gas inflows are likely responsible for fueling the central black hole, but even higher resolution will be needed to study this process in detail. Nevertheless, the simulations carried out by Kazantzidis and his collaborators provide the first direct evidence that gas originally in galaxies separated by hundreds of kiloparsecs is collected to sub-parsec scales simply as a result of the dynamics and hydrodynamics involved in the merger process.
The panel illustrates the complexity of dynamical evolution in a typical collision between two equal-mass disk galaxies. The simulation follows dark matter, stars, gas, and supermassive black holes, but only the gas component is visualized. Brighter colors indicate regions of higher gas density and the time corresponding to each snapshot is given by the labels. The first 10 panel images measure 100 kpc on a side, roughly five times the diameter of the visible part of the Milky Way galaxy. The next five panels represent successive zooms on the central region. The final frame shows the inner 300 pc of the nuclear region at the end of the simulation. On two accompanying videos -- here and here -- during the interaction, violent tidal forces tear the galactic disks apart, generating spectacular tidal tails, plumes and prominent bridges of material connecting the two galaxies. The ultimate outcome of a series of increasingly close encounters is the inevitable merger of the disk galaxies into a single structure and the formation of a nuclear disk as shown in the last panel. The simulated nuclear disks have masses of approximately a billion solar masses and exhibit prominent non-axisymmetric features known to produce strong gas inflows. The gas inflows are likely responsible for fueling the central black hole, but even higher resolution will be needed to study this process in detail. Nevertheless, the simulations carried out by Kazantzidis and his collaborators provide the first direct evidence that gas originally in galaxies separated by hundreds of kiloparsecs is collected to sub-parsec scales simply as a result of the dynamics and hydrodynamics involved in the merger process.

Dear Ohio State Family Members: 

With yesterday’s death of Michelle Kazlausky, a rider in Pelotonia, Ohio State has lost a deeply caring, compassionate, and dedicated staff member.  Through her work in a clinical laboratory at University Hospital East and at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, she devoted her career to improving the lives of patients.  Through her participation in Pelotonia, she demonstrated her selfless commitment to discovering a cure for cancer.  My thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and colleagues.

As we learn more about plans for services and tributes in Ms. Kazlausky's memory, we will pass along that information.

Sincerely,

E. Gordon Gee
President


Statement From Pelotonia:

The Pelotonia family is saddened that Michelle Kazlausky, one of the 4,000 plus riders in today’s Pelotonia event, was involved in a vehicular accident which has tragically claimed her life. The safety of all riders is paramount to Pelotonia. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is leading the accident investigation. We are deeply saddened by this terrible news. We ask that you keep the Kazlausky family in your thoughts and prayers.

Statement from Dr. Steven G. Gabbe:

"Our entire OSU Medical Center family mourns the loss of one of our own. Michelle "Shelli" Kazlausky was a longtime employee of the University, most recently as a medical technologist at University Hospital East. Shelly was riding Pelotonia for the many people in her life who were touched by cancer. At this time of such sudden and profound loss, we ask you to keep Shelly's family in your thoughts and prayers. As details become available, we will send additional information via email and OneSource regarding a memorial service.