Related papers: The faintest galaxies
Dwarf galaxies are small, dark matter-dominated galaxies, some of which are embedded within the Milky Way. Their lack of baryonic matter (e.g., stars and gas) makes them perfect test beds for probing the properties of dark matter --…
Recent observations show that the number of stars with very low metallicities in the dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way is low, despite the low average metallicities of stars in these systems. We undertake numerical simulations of…
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…
This paper presents an alternative scenario to explain the observed properties of the Milky Way dwarf Spheroidals (MW dSphs). We show that instead of resulting from large amounts of dark matter (DM), the large velocity dispersions observed…
Ghostly stellar haloes are extended haloes of stars composed solely of debris of pre-reionization fossil galaxies and should exist in dwarf galaxies with total masses $<10^{10}$ M$_\odot$. Fossil galaxies are even smaller mass dwarf…
We present uniformly measured star formation histories (SFHs) of 40 Local Group dwarf galaxies based on color-magnitude diagram (CMD) analysis from archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We demonstrate that accurate SFHs can be recovered…
Deep, wide-area photometric surveys have uncovered a population of compact ($r_{1/2} \approx$ 1-15 pc), extremely-low-mass ($M_* \approx$ 20-4000 $M_{\odot}$) stellar systems in the Milky Way halo that are smaller in size than known…
We present results from high-resolution N-Body/SPH simulations of rotationally supported dwarf irregular galaxies moving on bound orbits in the massive dark matter halo of the Milky Way.The dwarf models span a range in disk surface density…
The dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies of the Milky Way are some of the most dark-matter-dominated objects known. Due to their proximity, high dark matter content, and lack of astrophysical backgrounds, dwarf spheroidal galaxies are widely…
Star formation in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs, $M_* <10^5M_\odot$) is suppressed by reionization, but may not be completely quenched. The metallicity distribution function (MDF) of stars in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies could show these…
Precise measurements of mass in dark matter dominated dwarf spheroidal galaxies are of great importance for testing the theories of structure formation. We use $N$-body simulations of the tidal evolution of a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky…
It has been suggested that the internal dynamics of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) can be used to test whether or not ultralight axions with $m_a\sim 10^{-22}\text{eV}$ are a preferred dark matter candidate. However, comparisons to…
In this paper we analyze a simple scenario in which Dark Matter (DM) consists of free fermions with mass $m_f$. We assume that on galactic scales these fermions are capable of forming a degenerate Fermi gas, in which stability against…
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) have been extensively investigated in the Local Group, but their low luminosity and surface brightness make similar work in more distant galaxy groups challenging. Modern instrumentation unlocks the…
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are regarded as the basic building blocks in the formation of larger galaxies and are believed to be the most dark matter dominated systems known in the Universe. There are several models that attempt to explain…
We present FIRE/Gizmo hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of isolated dark matter halos, two each at the mass of classical dwarf galaxies ($M_{\rm vir} \simeq 10^{10} M_{\odot}$) and ultra-faint galaxies ($M_{\rm vir} \simeq 10^9 M_{\odot}$),…
I review a technique for interpreting faint galaxy data which traces the evolution with cosmic time of the galaxy luminosity density, as determined from several deep spectroscopic samples and the HDF. The method relies on the rest frame UV…
Dark matter clusters on all scales, therefore it is expected that even substructure should host its own substructure. Using the Extragalactic Distance Database, we searched for dwarf galaxy satellites of dwarf galaxies, i.e.…
In two previous papers, we presented simulations of the first galaxies in a representative volume of the Universe. The simulations are unique because we model feedback-regulated galaxy formation, using time-dependent,…
Using collisionless N-body simulations of dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way (MW) we construct realistic models of dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies of the Local Group. The dwarfs are initially composed of stellar disks embedded in dark…