Image Details
Caption: Figure A1.
Left Column: Orbital evolution of NGC 6569 in our barred MW model (integrated with GALA). Top: Galactocentric cylindrical radius R(t). Middle: Bar-frame azimuth ϕrot(t). Bottom: Instantaneous bar-frame angular rate dϕ/dt (solid), its time–average (dashed), and the inertial-frame circular frequency Ω (dotted). The listed characteristic periods (Tϕ inertial, Trel bar frame, TR, TZ) are measured from the same integration. Quasiperiodic beating reflects pericenter passages and the coupling with the rotating bar. Right Column: Time variation of the Jacobi (Roche) radius (rJ) and the critical Jacobi (EJ,crit) energy along the same orbit and in the same rotating bar frame. Top: rJ(t) in arcminutes at D = 10.53 kpc. Bottom: EJ,crit(t), computed from the effective potential Φeff evaluated at the L1/L2 saddle points. The “breathing” of rJ (smaller near pericenter, larger near apocenter) is mirrored by the modulation of EJ,crit. These curves are used to assess boundness by comparing stellar EJ to EJ,crit(t).
© 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.