Disk and ring structure in the universe.

Abstract

For a gas or dust cloud with a net angular momentum about a central mass, the stable shape is a rotating ring or disk, for a very simple reason. Collisions among the cloud's particles dissipate the energy of the random motions, while the rotational energy is maintained by the conservation of angular momentum. The angular momentum can be very easily imparted to matter. A ring or disk structure is, therefore, found in many celestial objects from asteroids to galaxies. The most impressive and obvious disk structures in the universe are the spiral galaxies. It is thought that the planetary system was formed from a flat disk of dust and gas. Much observational evidence shows that the thin, flat, concentric rings around the planet Saturn are composed of a host of individual particles.