Related papers: Pre-reionization Fossils, Ultra-faint Dwarfs and t…
We use a combination of high-resolution gasdynamics simulations of high-redshift dwarf galaxies and dissipationless simulations of a Milky Way sized halo to estimate the expected abundance and spatial distribution of the dwarf satellite…
We use a new set of cold dark matter simulations of the local universe to investigate the distribution of fossils of primordial dwarf galaxies within, and around the Milky Way. Throughout, we build upon previous results showing agreement…
We compare the properties of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group with the simulated galaxies formed before reionization in a cosmological simulation of unprecedented spatial and mass resolution,including radiative feedback effects. We find…
We present a new method for generating initial conditions for LCDM N-body simulations which provides the dynamical range necessary to follow the evolution and distribution of the fossils of the first galaxies on Local Volume, 5-10 Mpc,…
One of the main challenges facing standard hierarchical structure formation models is that the predicted abundance of galactic subhalos with circular velocities of 10-30 km/s is an order of magnitude higher than the number of satellites…
A recent surge in the discovery of new ultrafaint dwarf satellites of the Milky Way has inspired the idea of searching for faint satellites, $10^3\, \mathrm{M_{\odot}} < M_* < 10^6\, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$, around less massive field galaxies…
The recent discoveries of ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies in the vicinity of the Magellanic system supports the expectation from cosmological models that such faint objects exist and are numerous. By developing a mass model of the Local…
The number and distribution of dwarf satellite galaxies remain a critical test of cold dark matter-dominated structure formation on small scales. Until recently, observational information about galaxy formation on these scales has been…
We combine the highest resolution N-body simulation of a $\sim 10^{12}\, M_\odot$ $\Lambda$CDM halo (Aquarius-A) with the {\sc GALFORM} galaxy formation semianalytic model to study the full satellite population expected in a MW-like galaxy.…
Ultrafaint dwarf galaxies ($M_\star\lesssim10^{5-6}\,{\rm M}_\odot$) are relics of an early phase of galaxy formation. They contain some of the oldest and most metal-poor stars in the Universe which likely formed before the epoch of…
We present results from a pilot observation of nearby (~20 Mpc) galaxies with mass similar to that of the Milky Way (MW) to address the missing satellite problem. This is the first paper from an on-going project to address the problem with…
Since reionization prevents star formation in most halos below 3 x 10^9 solar masses, dwarf galaxies only populate a fraction of existing dark matter halos. We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations of the Local Group to study the…
Dwarf galaxies are ubiquitous throughout the universe and are extremely sensitive to various forms of internal and external feedback. Over the last two decades, the census of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group and beyond has increased…
We present a new set of high-resolution hydrodynamic cosmological zoom-in simulations that apply the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) physics to both Local Group (LG)-like and isolated Milky Way (MW)-like volumes (ten host systems…
We present early results from a Hubble Space Telescope survey of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. These Milky Way satellites were discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and appear to be an extension of the classical dwarf spheroidals to…
The Local Group offers an excellent laboratory for near-field cosmology by permitting us to use the resolved stellar content of its constituent galaxies as probes of galaxy formation and evolution, which in turn is an important means for…
Motivated by the stellar fossil record of Local Group (LG) dwarf galaxies, we show that the star-forming ancestors of the faintest ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs; ${\rm M}_{\rm V}$ $\sim -2$ or ${\rm M}_{\star}$ $\sim 10^{2}$ at $z=0$)…
In cold dark matter cosmologies, small mass halos outnumber larger mass halos at any redshift. However, the lower bound for the mass of a galaxy is unknown, as are the typical luminosity of the smallest galaxies and their numbers in the…
We study the formation histories and present-day structure of satellite galaxies formed in a high resolution hydrodynamic simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy. The simulated satellites span nearly 4 orders of magnitude in luminosity but…
We present new constraints on the star formation histories of the ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies, using deep photometry obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). A galaxy class recently discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey,…