16
August
2010
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Story Ideas for Media 8/17/10

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.

News

U.S. News: Ohio State again the state’s top public university. According to the U.S. News & World Report 2011 edition of America’s Best Colleges released today, The Ohio State University is ranked 18th among the nation’s public universities and the best in Ohio.
The publication also recognizes three Ohio State initiatives as outstanding examples of programs linked to student success. The university’s First Year Experience program is recognized for helping connect first-year students to the university and the larger community. It also cites Ohio State’s Learning Communities, residential programs that allow students to take courses as a group. In addition, Ohio State’s Service Learning program is noted among programs that feature community service as an instructional strategy.
Among all 262 national institutions rated Ohio State ranked 56th overall. Among public institutions, Ohio State shares its 18th - place ranking with Purdue, the University of Georgia, and the University of Maryland.
In addition to the overall institutional rankings, the magazine also annually ranks undergraduate programs in business and engineering. Among both private and public universities, Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business was rated 14th in the nation (up from 16 last year), and seventh among public universities.
Among Ph.D.-granting private and public colleges, Ohio State’s College of Engineering is rated 26th overall and 17th among publics in the category. CONTACT: Amy Murray (614) 292-8385. SEE: http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitem2853.

Research

Ohio State study: Growing up without sibs doesn’t hurt social skills. Growing up without siblings doesn’t seem to be a disadvantage for teenagers when it comes to social skills, new research suggests.
A study of more than 13,000 middle and high school students across the country found that “only children” were selected as friends by their schoolmates just as often as were peers who grew up with brothers and sisters.
“I don’t think anyone has to be concerned that if you don’t have siblings, you won’t learn the social skills you need to get along with other students in high school,” said Donna Bobbit-Zeher, co-author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University’s Marion campus.
The concern that a lack of siblings might hurt children’s social skills has become more significant in recent years, Bobbitt-Zeher said.
“As family sizes get smaller in industrialized countries, there is concern about what it might mean for society as more children grow up without brothers and sisters,” she said. CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/sibsocial.htm.

Experts

Ohio State professor has tips on helping kids adjust to going back to school. Most kids are preparing to go back to school, but how will they adjust to new friends, new teachers, and perhaps even a new school? Gil Greene, a professor of social work at Ohio State, is available to discuss how to help kids adjust to going back to school, tips on how to get back into the routine, and how to recognize signs that kids are not adjusting well. He can discuss adjustment issues relating to K-12 and college-age kids. CONTACT: Frankie Jones-Harris, (614) 292-3540 or Jones-Harris.1@osu.edu.

Events

Largest Midwest solar energy project to open in Upper Sandusky – Aug. 19. An 85-acre field just north of Upper Sandusky had been producing corn and soybeans for years. But last autumn, just as the tractors came and hauled the grain away, the roots of a new crop began to be planted there: 159,000 solar panels that will yield enough clean energy to power about 1,500 homes.
The 12-megawatt Wyandot Solar energy project – the largest in Ohio and the Midwest – will be unveiled at 3 p.m. on Thursday (8/17) at 10692 County Road 44, Upper Sandusky.
The output generated by the plant will be purchased by American Electric Power.
Ohio State University Extension has been a partner in the project, helping Wyandot County officials study the viability of such a novel project from an economic development perspective and organizing public forums.
Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee will be among the speakers at the unveiling ceremony, accompanying Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and utility representatives. CONTACT: Mauricio Espinoza at (330) 621-6541, espinoza.15.osu.edu. SEE: http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=5865.

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu; Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748 or hoffman.511@osu.edu; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu