The flaring Hi disk of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2683

Abstract

New deep VLA D array Hi observations of the highly inclined nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2683 are presented. Archival C array data were processed and added to the new observations. To investigate the 3D structure of the atomic gas disk, we made different 3D models for which we produced model Hi data cubes. The main ingredients of our best-fit model are (i) a thin disk inclined by 80.; (ii) a crude approximation of a spiral and/or bar structure by an elliptical surface density distribution of the gas disk; (iii) a slight warp in inclination between 10 kpc . R . 20 kpc (decreasing by 10.); (iv) an exponential flare that rises from 0.5 kpc at R = 9 kpc to 4 kpc at R = 15 kpc, stays constant until R = 22 kpc, and decreases its height for R 22 kpc; and (v) a low surface-density gas ring with a vertical offset of 1.3 kpc. The slope of NGC 2683fs flare is comparable, but somewhat steeper than those of other spiral galaxies. NGC 2683fs maximum height of the flare is also comparable to those of other galaxies. On the other hand, a saturation of the flare is only observed in NGC 2683. Based on the comparison between the high resolution model and observations, we exclude the existence of an extended atomic gas halo around the optical and thin gas disk. Under the assumption of vertical hydrostatic equilibrium we derive the vertical velocity dispersion of the gas. The high turbulent velocity dispersion in the flare can be explained by energy injection by (i) supernovae; (ii) magneto-rotational instabilities; (iii) interstellar medium stirring by dark matter substructure; or (iv) external gas accretion. The existence of the complex large-scale warping and asymmetries favors external gas accretion as one of the major energy sources that drives turbulence in the outer gas disk. We propose a scenario where this external accretion leads to turbulent adiabatic compression that enhances the turbulent velocity dispersion and might quench star formation in the outer gas disk of NGC 2683.