"Peanut" Bulges May be Buckled Bars |
NGC 5746 is a nearly edge on spiral with a "boxy" or "peanut" shaped bar.
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HST image of NGC 128 with its contour diagram clearly showing the "peanut" shape of the bulge. (Borrowed from Josh Barnes class notes). |
Three galaxies with peanut bulges, with major axis long-slit spectra showing the gas velocities below (from the [NII] 6584 emission line). This study by Bureau & Freeman 1999 confirms that ~all the peanut bulge objects in their sample are caused by bars that have undergone vertical instabilities and buckled. |