Abstract
We present “Extending the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs Survey” (xSAGA), a method for identifying low-
z
galaxies on the basis of optical imaging and results on the spatial ...distributions of xSAGA satellites around host galaxies. Using spectroscopic redshift catalogs from the SAGA Survey as a training data set, we have optimized a convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify
z
< 0.03 galaxies from more-distant objects using image cutouts from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. From the sample of >100,000 CNN-selected low-
z
galaxies, we identify >20,000 probable satellites located between 36–300 projected kpc from NASA-Sloan Atlas central galaxies in the stellar-mass range
9.5
<
log
(
M
⋆
/
M
⊙
)
<
11
. We characterize the incompleteness and contamination for CNN-selected samples and apply corrections in order to estimate the true number of satellites as a function of projected radial distance from their hosts. Satellite richness depends strongly on host stellar mass, such that more-massive host galaxies have more satellites, and on host morphology, such that elliptical hosts have more satellites than disky hosts with comparable stellar masses. We also find a strong inverse correlation between satellite richness and the magnitude gap between a host and its brightest satellite. The normalized satellite radial distribution between 36–300 kpc does not depend on host stellar mass, morphology, or magnitude gap. The satellite abundances and radial distributions we measure are in reasonable agreement with predictions from hydrodynamic simulations. Our results deliver unprecedented statistical power for studying satellite galaxy populations and highlight the promise of using machine-learning for extending galaxy samples of wide-area surveys.
We present an approach for comparing the detections and non-detections of Local Group (LG) dwarf galaxies in large H i surveys to the predictions of a suite of n-body simulations of the LG. This ...approach depends primarily on a set of empirical scaling relations to connect the simulations to the observations, rather than making strong theoretical assumptions. We then apply this methodology to the Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array Hi (GALFA-HI) Compact Cloud Catalog (CCC), and compare it to the suite Exploring the Local Volume In Simulations (ELVIS) of simulations. This approach reveals a strong tension between the naïve results of the model and the observations: while there are no LG dwarfs in the GALFA-HI CCC, the simulations predict ∼10. Applying a simple model of reionization can resolve this tension by preventing low-mass halos from forming gas. However, and if this effect operates as expected, the observations provide a constraint on the mass scale of the dwarf galaxy that reionization impacts. Combined with the observed properties of Leo T, the halo virial mass scale at which reionization impacts dwarf galaxy gas content is constrained to be , independent of any assumptions about star formation.
Supernova (SN) 2009ig was discovered 17 hr after explosion by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search, promptly classified as a normal Type Ia SN (SN Ia), peaked at V = 13.5 mag, and was equatorial, ...making it one of the foremost SNe for intensive study in the last decade. Here, we present ultraviolet (UV) and optical observations of SN 2009ig, starting about 1 day after explosion until around maximum brightness. Our data include excellent UV and optical light curves, 25 premaximum optical spectra, and 8 UV spectra, including the earliest UV spectrum ever obtained of an SN Ia. SN 2009ig is a relatively normal SN Ia, but does display high-velocity ejecta--the ejecta velocity measured in our earliest spectra (v --2,000 km s--1 for Si II Delta *l6355) is the highest yet measured in an SN Ia. The spectral evolution is very dramatic at times earlier than 12 days before maximum brightness, but slows after that time. The early-time data provide a precise measurement of 17.13 ? 0.07 days for the SN rise time. The optical color curves and early-time spectra are significantly different from template light curves and spectra used for light-curve fitting and K-corrections, indicating that the template light curves and spectra do not properly represent all SNe Ia at very early times. In the age of wide-angle sky surveys, SNe like SN 2009ig that are nearby, bright, well positioned, and promptly discovered will still be rare. As shown with SN 2009ig, detailed studies of single events can provide significantly more information for testing systematic uncertainties related to SN Ia distance estimates and constraining progenitor and explosion models than large samples of more distant SNe.
Abstract
We present the discovery of DELVE 6, an ultra-faint stellar system identified in the second data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration (DELVE) survey. Based on a maximum-likelihood ...fit to its structure and stellar population, we find that DELVE 6 is an old (
τ
> 9.8 Gyr at 95% confidence) and metal-poor (Fe/H < −1.17 dex at 95% confidence) stellar system with an absolute magnitude of
M
V
=
−
1.5
−
0.6
+
0.4
mag and an azimuthally averaged half-light radius of
r
1
/
2
=
10
−
3
+
4
pc. These properties are consistent with the population of ultra-faint star clusters uncovered by recent surveys. Interestingly, DELVE 6 is located at an angular separation of ∼10° from the center of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), corresponding to a 3D physical separation of ∼20 kpc given the system’s observed distance (
D
⊙
= 80 kpc). This also places the system ∼35 kpc from the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), lying within recent constraints on the size of the LMC’s dark matter halo. We tentatively measure the proper motion of DELVE 6 using data from Gaia, which we find supports a potential association between the system and the LMC/SMC. Although future kinematic measurements will be necessary to determine its origins, we highlight that DELVE 6 may represent only the second or third ancient (
τ
> 9 Gyr) star cluster associated with the SMC, or one of fewer than two dozen ancient clusters associated with the LMC. Nonetheless, we cannot currently rule out the possibility that the system is a distant Milky Way halo star cluster.
Abstract
We report the discovery of a new ultra-faint stellar system found near the Magellanic Clouds in the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey. This new system, DELVE J0155−6815 (DELVE 2), is ...located at a heliocentric distance of
D
⊙
= 71 ± 4 kpc, which places it at a 3D physical separation of 12 ± 3 kpc from the center of the Small Magellanic Cloud and
from the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). DELVE 2 is identified as a resolved overdensity of old (
τ
> 13.3 Gyr) and metal-poor (
dex) stars with a projected half-light radius of
and an absolute magnitude of
. The size and luminosity of DELVE 2 are consistent with both the population of recently discovered ultra-faint globular clusters and the smallest ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. However, its photometrically derived age and metallicity would place it among the oldest and most metal-poor globular clusters in the Magellanic system. In the absence of spectroscopic measurements of the system’s metallicity dispersion and internal kinematics, we are unable to conclusively classify this system at this time. DELVE 2 is detected in
Gaia
DR2 with a clear proper-motion signal, with multiple blue horizontal-branch stars near the centroid of the system with proper motions consistent with the systemic mean. We measure the system proper motion to be
=
mas yr
−1
. We compare the spatial position and proper motion of DELVE 2 with simulations of the accreted satellite population of the LMC and find that it is very likely to be associated with the LMC.
ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of an ultrafaint dwarf in the constellation of Pegasus. Pegasus V (Peg V)/Andromeda XXXIV was initially identified in the public imaging data release of the DESI ...Legacy Imaging Surveys and confirmed with deep imaging from Gemini/GMOS-N. The colour–magnitude diagram shows a sparse red giant branch (RGB) population and a strong overdensity of blue horizontal branch stars. We measure a distance to Peg V of $D=692^{+33}_{-31}$ kpc, making it a distant satellite of Andromeda with MV = −6.3 ± 0.2 and a half-light radius of rhalf = 89 ± 41 pc. It is located ∼260 kpc from Andromeda in the outskirts of its halo. The RGB is well fitted by a metal-poor isochrone with Fe/H = −3.2, suggesting it is very metal poor. This, combined with its blue horizontal branch, could imply that it is a reionization fossil. This is the first detection of an ultrafaint dwarf outside the deep Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey area, and points to a rich, faint satellite population in the outskirts of our nearest neighbour.
Dedicated H i surveys have recently led to a growing category of low-mass galaxies found in the Local Volume. We present synthesis imaging of one such galaxy, Pisces A, a low-mass dwarf originally ...confirmed via optical imaging and spectroscopy of neutral hydrogen (H i) sources in the Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array H i survey. Using H i observations taken with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, we characterize the kinematic structure of the gas and connect it to the galaxy's environment and evolutionary history. While the galaxy shows overall ordered rotation, a number of kinematic features indicate a disturbed gas morphology. These features are suggestive of a tumultuous recent history and represent % of the total baryonic mass. We find a total baryon fraction if we include these features. We also quantify the cosmic environment of Pisces A, finding an apparent alignment of the disturbed gas with nearby, large-scale filamentary structure at the edge of the Local Void. We consider several scenarios for the origin of the disturbed gas, including gas stripping via ram pressure or galaxy-galaxy interactions, as well as accretion and ram pressure compression. Though we cannot rule out a past interaction with a companion, our observations best support the suggestion that the neutral gas morphology and recent star formation in Pisces A are a direct result of its interactions with the intergalactic medium.
Abstract
We present observations of the dwarf galaxies GALFA Dw3 and GALFA Dw4 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. These galaxies were initially discovered as optical ...counterparts to compact H
i
clouds in the GALFA survey. Both objects resolve into stellar populations which display old red giant branch (RGB), younger helium-burning, and massive main sequence stars. We use the tip of the RGB method to determine the distance to each galaxy, finding distances of
7.61
−
0.29
+
0.28
Mpc and
3.10
−
0.17
+
0.16
Mpc, respectively. With these distances we show that both galaxies are extremely isolated, with no other confirmed objects within ∼1.5 Mpc of either dwarf. GALFA Dw4 is also found to be unusually compact for a galaxy of its luminosity. GALFA Dw3 and Dw4 contain H
ii
regions with young star clusters and an overall irregular morphology; they show evidence of ongoing star formation through both ultraviolet and H
α
observations and are therefore classified as dwarf irregulars (dIrrs). The star formation histories of these two dwarfs show distinct differences: Dw3 shows signs of a recently ceased episode of active star formation across the entire dwarf, while Dw4 shows some evidence for current star formation in spatially limited H
ii
regions. Compact H
i
sources offer a promising method for identifying isolated field dwarfs in the Local Volume, including GALFA Dw3 and Dw4, with the potential to shed light on the driving mechanisms of dwarf galaxy formation and evolution.
Abstract
We present the discovery of a candidate ultra-faint Milky-Way satellite, Eridanus IV (DELVE J0505−0931), detected in photometric data from the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). ...Eridanus IV is a faint (
M
V
= − 4.7 ± 0.2), extended (
r
1
/
2
=
75
−
13
+
16
pc
), and elliptical (
ϵ
= 0.54 ± 0.1) system at a heliocentric distance of
76.7
−
6.1
+
4.0
kpc
, with a stellar population that is well described by an old, metal-poor isochrone (age of
τ
∼ 13.0 Gyr and metallicity of Fe/H ≲ − 2.1 dex). These properties are consistent with the known population of ultra-faint Milky-Way satellite galaxies. Eridanus IV is also prominently detected using proper-motion measurements from Gaia Early Data Release 3, with a systemic proper motion of
(
μ
α
cos
δ
,
μ
δ
)
=
(
+
0.25
±
0.06
,
−
0.10
±
0.05
)
mas yr
−1
measured from its horizontal branch and red-giant-branch member stars. We find that the spatial distribution of likely member stars hints at the possibility that the system is undergoing tidal disruption.
ABSTRACT We report five Local Volume dwarf galaxies (two of which are presented here for the first time) uncovered during a comprehensive archival search for optical counterparts to ultra-compact ...high-velocity clouds (UCHVCs). The UCHVC population of HI clouds are thought to be candidate gas-rich, low-mass halos at the edge of the Local Group and beyond, but no comprehensive search for stellar counterparts to these systems has been presented. Careful visual inspection of all publicly available optical and ultraviolet imaging at the position of the UCHVCs revealed six blue, diffuse counterparts with a morphology consistent with a faint dwarf galaxy beyond the Local Group. Optical spectroscopy of all six candidate dwarf counterparts show that five have an H -derived velocity consistent with the coincident HI cloud, confirming their association; the sixth diffuse counterpart is likely a background object. The size and luminosity of the UCHVC dwarfs is consistent with other known Local Volume dwarf irregular galaxies. The gas fraction ( ) of the five dwarfs are generally consistent with that of dwarf irregular galaxies in the Local Volume, although ALFALFA-Dw1 (associated with ALFALFA UCHVC HVC274.68+74.70-123) has a very high ∼ 40. Despite the heterogenous nature of our search, we demonstrate that the current dwarf companions to UCHVCs are at the edge of detectability due to their low surface brightness, and that deeper searches are likely to find more stellar systems. If more sensitive searches do not reveal further stellar counterparts to UCHVCs, then the dearth of such systems around the Local Group may be in conflict with ΛCDM simulations.
PDF
