Abstract
We present deep
Magellan
/Megacam stellar photometry of four recently discovered faint Milky Way satellites: Sagittarius II (Sgr II), Reticulum II (Ret II), Phoenix II (Phe II), and ...Tucana III (Tuc III). Our photometry reaches ∼2–3 magnitudes deeper than the discovery data, allowing us to revisit the properties of these new objects (e.g., distance, structural properties, luminosity measurements, and signs of tidal disturbance). The satellite color-magnitude diagrams show that they are all old (∼13.5 Gyr) and metal poor (Fe/H ≲ −2.2). Sgr II is particularly interesting, as it sits in an intermediate position between the loci of dwarf galaxies and globular clusters in the size–luminosity plane. The ensemble of its structural parameters is more consistent with a globular cluster classification, indicating that Sgr II is the most extended globular cluster in its luminosity range. The other three satellites land directly on the locus defined by Milky Way ultra-faint dwarf galaxies of similar luminosity. Ret II is the most elongated nearby dwarf galaxy currently known for its luminosity range. Our structural parameters for Phe II and Tuc III suggest that they are both dwarf galaxies. Tuc III is known to be associated with a stellar stream, which is clearly visible in our matched-filter stellar density map. The other satellites do not show any clear evidence of tidal stripping in the form of extensions or distortions. Finally, we also use archival H
i
data to place limits on the gas content of each object.
ABSTRACT
We have used hydrodynamical simulations to model the formation of the closest giant elliptical galaxy Centaurus A. We find that a single major merger event with a mass ratio of up to 1.5, ...and which has happened ∼2 Gyr ago, is able to reproduce many of its properties, including galaxy kinematics, the inner gas disc, stellar halo ages and metallicities, and numerous faint features observed in the halo. The elongated halo shape is mostly made of progenitor residuals deposited by the merger, which also contribute to stellar shells observed in the Centaurus A halo. The current model also reproduces the measured planetary nebula line-of-sight velocity and their velocity dispersion. Models with a small mass ratio and relatively low gas fraction result in a de Vaucouleurs profile distribution, which is consistent with observations and model expectations. A recent merger left imprints in the age distribution that are consistent with the young stellar and globular cluster populations (2–4 Gyr) found within the halo. We conclude that even if not all properties of Centaurus A have been accurately reproduced, a recent major merger has likely occurred to form the Centaurus A galaxy as we observe it at present day.
ABSTRACT We present a comprehensive analysis of the structural properties and luminosities of the 23 dwarf spheroidal galaxies that fall within the footprint of the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological ...Survey (PAndAS). These dwarf galaxies represent the large majority of Andromeda's known satellite dwarf galaxies and cover a wide range in luminosity ( or ) and surface brightness ( mag arcsec−2). We confirm most previous measurements, but we find And XIX to be significantly larger than before ( , ) and cannot derive parameters for And XXVII as it is likely not a bound stellar system. We also significantly revise downward the luminosities of And XV and And XVI, which are now or . Finally, we provide the first detailed analysis of Cas II/And XXX, a fairly faint system ( ) of typical size ( ), located in close proximity to the two bright elliptical dwarf galaxies NGC 147 and NGC 185. Combined with the set of homogeneous distances published in an earlier contribution, our analysis dutifully tracks all relevant sources of uncertainty in the determination of the properties of the dwarf galaxies from the PAndAS photometric catalog. We further publish the posterior probability distribution functions of all the parameters we fit for in the form of MCMC chains available online; these inputs should be used in any analysis that aims to remain truthful to the data and properly account for covariance between parameters.
Abstract
We present deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of five faint dwarf galaxies associated with the nearby spiral NGC 253 (D ≈ 3.5 Mpc). Three of these are newly discovered dwarf galaxies, ...while all five were found in the Panoramic Imaging Survey of Centaurus and Sculptor, a Magellan+Megacam survey to identify faint dwarfs and other substructures in resolved stellar light around massive galaxies outside of the Local Group. Our HST data reach ≳3 magnitudes below the tip of the red giant branch for each dwarf, allowing us to derive their distances, structural parameters, and luminosities. All five systems contain mostly old, metal-poor stellar populations (age ∼12 Gyr, M/H ≲ −1.5) and have sizes (
r
h
∼ 110–3000 pc) and luminosities (
M
V
∼ −7 to −12 mag) largely consistent with Local Group dwarfs. The three new NGC 253 satellites are among the faintest systems discovered beyond the Local Group. We also use archival H
i
data to place limits on the gas content of our discoveries. Deep imaging surveys such as our program around NGC 253 promise to elucidate the faint end of the satellite luminosity function and its scatter across a range of galaxy masses, morphologies, and environments in the decade to come.
ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of the faintest known dwarf galaxy satellite of a Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) stellar-mass host beyond the Local Group (LG), based on deep imaging with Subaru/Hyper ...Suprime-Cam. Magellanic Analog Dwarf Companions And Stellar Halos (MADCASH) J074238+652501-dw lies ∼35 kpc in projection from NGC 2403, a dwarf spiral galaxy at
D
≈ 3.2 Mpc. This new dwarf has
M
g
=
−
7.4
±
0.4
and a half-light radius of 168 ± 70 pc, at the calculated distance of 3.39 ± 0.41 Mpc. The color–magnitude diagram reveals no evidence of young stellar populations, suggesting that MADCASH J074238+652501-dw is an old, metal-poor dwarf similar to low-luminosity dwarfs in the LG. The lack of either detected H
I
gas (
M
HI
/
L
V
<
0.69
M
⊙
/
L
⊙
, based on Green Bank Telescope observations) or
GALEX
NUV/FUV flux enhancement is consistent with a lack of young stars. This is the first result from the MADCASH survey, which is conducting a census of the stellar substructure and faint satellites in the halos of Local Volume LMC analogs via resolved stellar populations. Models predict a total of ∼4–10 satellites at least as massive as MADCASH J074238+652501-dw around a host with the mass of NGC 2403, with 2–3 within our field of view, slightly more than the one such satellite observed in our footprint.
Abstract
We present a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging study of two dwarf galaxies in the halos of Local Volume Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) analogs. These dwarfs were discovered as part of ...our Subaru+Hyper Suprime-Cam MADCASH survey: MADCASH-1 is a satellite of NGC 2403 (
D
∼ 3.2 Mpc), and MADCASH-2 is a previously unknown dwarf galaxy near NGC 4214 (
D
∼ 3 Mpc). Our HST data reach >3.5 mag below the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) of each dwarf, allowing us to derive their structural parameters and assess their stellar populations. We measure TRGB distances (
D
MADCASH
−
1
=
3.41
−
0.23
+
0.24
Mpc,
D
MADCASH
−
2
=
3.00
−
0.15
+
0.13
Mpc), and confirm the dwarfs’ associations with their host galaxies. MADCASH-1 is a predominantly old, metal-poor stellar system (age ∼13.5 Gyr, M/H ∼ −2.0), similar to many Local Group dwarfs. Modelling of MADCASH-2's color–magnitude diagram suggests that it contains mostly ancient, metal-poor stars (age ∼13.5 Gyr, M/H ∼ −2.0), but that ∼10% of its stellar mass was formed 1.1–1.5 Gyr ago and ∼1% was formed 400–500 Myr ago. Given its recent star formation, we search MADCASH-2 for neutral hydrogen using the Green Bank Telescope, but find no emission and estimate an upper limit on the H
i
mass of <4.8 × 10
4
M
⊙
. These are the faintest dwarf satellites known around host galaxies of LMC mass outside the Local Group (
M
V
,MADCASH−1
= −7.81 ± 0.18,
M
V
,MADCASH−2
= −9.15 ± 0.12), and one of them shows signs of recent environmental quenching by its host. Once the MADCASH survey for faint dwarf satellites is complete, our census will enable us to test predictions from cold dark matter models for hierarchical structure formation and discover the physical mechanisms by which low-mass hosts influence the evolution of their satellites.
Abstract
We present Hubble Space Telescope imaging of 14 gas-rich, low-surface-brightness galaxies in the field at distances of 25–36 Mpc, with mean effective radii and
g
-band central surface ...brightnesses of 1.9 kpc and 24.2 mag arcsec
−2
. Nine meet the standard criteria to be considered ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). An inspection of point-like sources brighter than the turnover magnitude of the globular cluster luminosity function and within twice the half-light radii of each galaxy reveals that, unlike those in denser environments, gas-rich, field UDGs host very few old globular clusters (GCs). Most of the targets (nine) have zero candidate GCs, with the remainder having one or two candidates each. These findings are broadly consistent with expectations for normal dwarf galaxies of similar stellar mass. This rules out gas-rich, field UDGs as potential progenitors of the GC-rich UDGs that are typically found in galaxy clusters. However, some in galaxy groups may be directly accreted from the field. In line with other recent results, this strongly suggests that there must be at least two distinct formation pathways for UDGs, and that this subpopulation is simply an extreme low surface brightness extension of the underlying dwarf galaxy population. The root cause of their diffuse stellar distributions remains unclear, but the formation mechanism appears to only impact the distribution of stars (and potentially dark matter), without strongly impacting the distribution of neutral gas, the overall stellar mass, or the number of GCs.
ABSTRACT We report the discovery of Scl-MM-Dw2, a new dwarf galaxy at a projected separation of ∼50 kpc from NGC 253, as part of the Panoramic Imaging Survey of Centaurus and Sculptor project ...(PISCeS). We measure a tip of the red giant branch (RGB) distance of 3.12 0.30 Mpc, suggesting that Scl-MM-Dw2 is likely a satellite of NGC 253. We qualitatively compare the distribution of RGB stars in the color-magnitude diagram with theoretical isochrones and find that it is consistent with an old, ∼12 Gyr, and metal-poor, Fe/H , stellar population. We also detect a small number of asymptotic giant branch stars consistent with a metal-poor 2-3 Gyr population in the center of the dwarf. Our non-detection of HI in a deep Green Bank Telescope spectrum implies a gas fraction . The stellar and gaseous properties of Scl-MM-Dw2 suggest that it is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Scl-MM-Dw2 has a luminosity of mag and a half-light radius of rh , which makes it moderately larger than dwarf galaxies in the Local Group of the same luminosity. However, Scl-MM-Dw2 is very elongated ( ), and it has an extremely low surface brightness ( mag arcsec−2). Its elongation and diffuseness make it an outlier in the ellipticity-luminosity and surface brightness-luminosity scaling relations. These properties suggest that this dwarf is being tidally disrupted by NGC 253.
Abstract
We present new radial velocity measurements from the Magellan and the Anglo-Australian Telescopes for 175 previously known and 121 newly confirmed globular clusters (GCs) around NGC 5128, ...the nearest accessible massive early-type galaxy at
D
= 3.8 Mpc. Remarkably, 28 of these newly confirmed GCs are at projected radii
>
50
′
(≳54 kpc), extending to ∼130 kpc, in the outer halo where few GCs had been confirmed in previous work. We identify several subsets of GCs that spatially trace halo substructures that are visible in red giant branch star maps of the galaxy. In some cases, these subsets of GCs are kinematically cold, and may be directly associated with and originate from these specific stellar substructures. From a combined kinematic sample of 645 GCs, we see evidence for coherent rotation at all radii, with a higher rotation amplitude for the metal-rich GC subpopulation. Using the tracer mass estimator, we measure a total enclosed mass of 2.5 ± 0.3 × 10
12
M
⊙
within ∼120 kpc, an estimate that will be sharpened with forthcoming dynamical modeling. The combined power of stellar mapping and GC kinematics makes NGC 5128 an ongoing keystone for understanding galaxy assembly at mass scales inaccessible in the Local Group.
Abstract We have imaged the entirety of eight (plus one partial) Milky Way (MW)–like satellite systems, a total of 42 (45) satellites, from the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs II catalog in both H ...α and H i with the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope and the Jansky Very Large Array. In these eight systems we have identified four cases where a satellite appears to be currently undergoing ram pressure stripping (RPS) as its H i gas collides with the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of its host. We also see a clear suppression of gas fraction ( M HI / M * ) with decreasing (projected) satellite–host separation—to our knowledge, the first time this has been observed in a sample of MW-like systems. Comparisons to the Auriga, A Project Of Simulating The Local Environment, and TNG50 cosmological zoom-in simulations show consistent global behavior, but they systematically underpredict gas fractions across all satellites by roughly 0.5 dex. Using a simplistic RPS model, we estimate the average peak CGM density that satellites in these systems have encountered to be log ρ cgm / g cm − 3 ≈ − 27.3 . Furthermore, we see tentative evidence that these satellites are following a specific star formation rate to gas fraction relation that is distinct from field galaxies. Finally, we detect one new gas-rich satellite in the UGC 903 system with an optical size and surface brightness meeting the standard criteria to be considered an ultra-diffuse galaxy.
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