Euclid: Quick Data Release (Q1) -- A census of dwarf galaxies across a range of distances and environments
Abstract
The Euclid Q1 fields were selected for calibration purposes in cosmology and are therefore relatively devoid of nearby galaxies. However, this is precisely what makes them interesting fields in which to search for dwarf galaxies in local density environments. We take advantage of the unprecedented depth, spatial resolution, and field of view of the Euclid Quick Release (Q1) to build a census of dwarf galaxies in these regions. We have identified dwarfs in a representative sample of 25 contiguous tiles in the Euclid Deep Field North (EDF-N), covering an area of 14.25 sq. deg. The dwarf candidates were identified using a semi-automatic detection method, based on properties measured by the Euclid pipeline and listed in the MER catalogue. A selection cut in surface brightness and magnitude was used to produce an initial dwarf candidate catalogue, followed by a cut in morphology and colour. This catalogue was visually classified to produce a final sample of dwarf candidates, including their morphology, number of nuclei, globular cluster (GC) richness, and presence of a blue compact centre. We identified 2674 dwarf candidates, corresponding to 188 dwarfs per sq. deg. The visual classification of the dwarfs reveals a slightly uneven morphological mix of 58% ellipticals and 42% irregulars, with very few potentially GC-rich (1.0%) and nucleated (4.0%) candidates but a noticeable fraction (6.9%) of dwarfs with blue compact centres. The distance distribution of 388 (15%) of the dwarfs with spectroscopic redshifts peaks at about 400 Mpc. Their stellar mass distribution confirms that our selection effectively identifies dwarfs while minimising contamination. The most prominent dwarf overdensities are dominated by dEs, while dIs are more evenly distributed. This work highlights Euclid's remarkable ability to detect and characterise dwarf galaxies across diverse masses, distances, and environments.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.15335,
title = {Euclid: Quick Data Release (Q1) -- A census of dwarf galaxies across a range of distances and environments},
author = {F. R. Marleau and R. Habas and D. Carollo and C. Tortora and P. -A. Duc and E. Sola and T. Saifollahi and M. Fügenschuh and M. Walmsley and R. Zöller and A. Ferré-Mateu and M. Cantiello and M. Urbano and E. Saremi and R. Ragusa and R. Laureijs and M. Hilker and O. Müller and M. Poulain and R. F. Peletier and S. J. Sprenger and O. Marchal and N. Aghanim and B. Altieri and A. Amara and S. Andreon and N. Auricchio and H. Aussel and C. Baccigalupi and M. Baldi and A. Balestra and S. Bardelli and A. Basset and P. Battaglia and R. Bender and A. Biviano and A. Bonchi and D. Bonino and E. Branchini and M. Brescia and J. Brinchmann and S. Camera and G. Cañas-Herrera and V. Capobianco and C. Carbone and J. Carretero and S. Casas and M. Castellano and G. Castignani and S. Cavuoti and K. C. Chambers and A. Cimatti and C. Colodro-Conde and G. Congedo and C. J. Conselice L. Conversi and Y. Copin and L. Corcione and F. Courbin and H. M. Courtois and M. Cropper and J. -C. Cuillandre and A. Da Silva and H. Degaudenzi and G. De Lucia and A. M. Di Giorgio and C. Dolding and H. Dole and F. Dubath and X. Dupac and S. Dusini and S. Escoffier and M. Fabricius and M. Farina and F. Faustini and S. Ferriol and P. Fosalba and S. Fotopoulou and M. Frailis and E. Franceschi and P. Franzetti and M. Fumana and S. Galeotta and K. George and B. Gillis and C. Giocoli and B. R. Granett and A. Grazian and F. Grupp and S. Gwyn and S. V. H. Haugan and J. Hoar and H. Hoekstra and W. Holmes and F. Hormuth and A. Hornstrup and P. Hudelot and K. Jahnke and M. Jhabvala and B. Joachimi and E. Keihänen and S. Kermiche and A. Kiessling and B. Kubik and M. Kümmel and M. Kunz and H. Kurki-Suonio and O. Lahav and Q. Le Boulc'h and A. M. C. Le Brun and D. Le Mignant and S. Ligori and P. B. Lilje and V. Lindholm and I. Lloro and G. Mainetti and D. Maino and E. Maiorano and O. Mansutti and S. Marcin and O. Marggraf and M. Martinelli and N. Martinet and F. Marulli and R. Massey and S. Maurogordato and H. J. McCracken and E. Medinaceli and S. Mei and M. Melchior and Y. Mellier and M. Meneghetti and E. Merlin and G. Meylan and A. Mora and M. Moresco and L. Moscardini and R. Nakajima and C. Neissner and S. -M. Niemi and J. W. Nightingale and C. Padilla and S. Paltani and F. Pasian and K. Pedersen and W. J. Percival and V. Pettorino and S. Pires and G. Polenta and M. Poncet and L. A. Popa and L. Pozzetti and F. Raison and R. Rebolo and A. Renzi and J. Rhodes and G. Riccio and E. Romelli and M. Roncarelli and E. Rossetti and B. Rusholme and R. Saglia and Z. Sakr and A. G. Sánchez and D. Sapone and B. Sartoris and M. Sauvage and J. A. Schewtschenko and M. Schirmer and P. Schneider and M. Scodeggio and A. Secroun and G. Seidel and M. Seiffert and S. Serrano and P. Simon and C. Sirignano and G. Sirri and J. Skottfelt and L. Stanco and J. Steinwagner and P. Tallada-Crespí and D. Tavagnacco and A. N. Taylor and H. I. Teplitz and I. Tereno and S. Toft and R. Toledo-Moreo and F. Torradeflot and I. Tutusaus and L. Valenziano and J. Valiviita and T. Vassallo and G. Verdoes Kleijn and A. Veropalumbo and Y. Wang and J. Weller and A. Zacchei and G. Zamorani and F. M. Zerbi and E. Zucca and M. Bolzonella and C. Burigana and R. Cabanac and L. Gabarra and M. Huertas-Company and V. Scottez and D. Scott},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.15335},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Paper submitted as part of the A&A Special Issue `Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1)', 27 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables