ACCRETION DISKS IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL HOYLE-LYTTLETON FLOW

We investigate the flip-flop instability observed in two-dimensional planar hydrodynamic simulations of Hoyle-Lyttleton accretion in the case of an accreting object with a radius much smaller than the nominal accretion radius, as one would expect in astrophysically relevant situations. Contrary to previous results with larger accretors, accretion from a homogenous medium onto a small accretor is characterized by a robust, quasi-Keplerian accretion disk. For gas with a ratio of specific heats of 5/3, such a disk remains locked in one direction for a uniform ambient medium. The accretion flow is more variable for gas with a ratio of specific heats of 4/3, with more dynamical interaction of the disk flow with the bow shock leading to occasional flips in the direction of rotation of the accretion disk. In both cases the accretion of angular momentum is determined by the flow pattern behind the accretion shock rather than by the parameters of the upstream flow.