Abstract
Independent analyses of the HI and CO within 2 kpc of the galactic centre have shown that the gas distribution is best described as a disk-like structure with a rotation axis inclined 20–25° to that of the Galaxy1–3. Detailed models of the gas as an expanding circular disk2 or a thin elliptical bar3 describe the observations equally well, but they have no dynamical basis. We propose that the bending wave theory of Bertin and Mark4 can provide the dynamical explanation for the tilt, and that the predictions of the theory are independent of the kinematic model of the gas distribution. We show here that the predicted relationship between the disk surface density distribution and the height of the bending are satisfied for both the disk-like and bar-like models of the gas.
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Blitz, L., Mark, JK. & Sinha, R. Why is the central gas disk of the Galaxy tilted?. Nature 290, 120–121 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/290120a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/290120a0
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