Related papers: M31 Satellite Masses Compared to LCDM Subhaloes
We use a new telescope concept, the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, to study the low surface brightness outskirts of the spiral galaxy M101. The radial surface brightness profile is measured down to mu_g ~ 32 mag/arcsec^2, a depth that…
We report the discovery of significant stellar substructure in the halo and outer disk of our nearest large galactic neighbour, M31. Our deep panoramic survey with the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Field Camera currently maps out an area of…
We show that the mass of a dark matter halo can be inferred from the dynamical status of its satellite galaxies. Using 9 dark-matter simulations of halos like the Milky Way (MW), we find that the present-day substructures in each halo…
We present chemical abundances of red giant branch (RGB) stars in the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellite system of Andromeda (M31), using spectral synthesis of medium resolution (R $\sim 6000$) spectra obtained with the Keck II telescope and…
I compare the density profile of dark matter (DM) halos in cold dark matter (CDM) N-body simulations with 1 Mpc, 32 Mpc, 256 Mpc and 1024 Mpc box sizes. In dimensionless units the simulations differ only for the initial power spectrum of…
We estimate the Milky Way (MW) halo properties using satellite kinematic data including the latest measurements from Gaia DR2. With a simulation-based 6D phase-space distribution function (DF) of satellite kinematics, we can infer halo…
We study the kinematics of satellites around isolated galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic catalog. Using a model of the phase-space density previously measured for the halos of LCDM dark matter…
We present a study of satellites in orbit around a high-resolution, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) galaxy simulated in a cosmological context. The simulated galaxy is approximately the same mass as the Milky Way. The cumulative…
We propose that the accretion of a dwarf spheroidal galaxy provides a common origin for the giant southern stream and the warp of M31. We run about 40 full N-body simulations with live M31, infalling galaxies with varying masses and density…
We discuss the integrated kinematic parameters of 20 M51-type binary galaxies. A comparison of the orbital masses of the galaxies with the sum of the individual masses suggests that moderately massive dark halos surround bright spiral…
We present [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe] abundances, derived using spectral synthesis techniques, for stars in M31's outer stellar halo. The 21 [Fe/H] measurements and 7 [$\alpha$/Fe] measurements are drawn from fields ranging from 43 to 165 kpc…
We present Keck 10-meter/LRIS spectra of candidate red giants in the halo of M31, located at a projected radius of R=19kpc on the minor axis. These spectroscopic targets have been selected using a combination of UBRI-based and morphological…
An excess $\gamma$-ray signal toward the outer halo of M31 has recently been reported. Although other explanations are plausible, the possibility that it arises from dark matter (DM) is valid. In this work we interpret the excess in the…
We combine a series of high-resolution simulations with semi-analytic galaxy formation models to follow the evolution of a system resembling the Milky Way and its satellites. The semi-analytic model is based on that developed for the…
The total number and luminosity function of the population of dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way (MW) provide important constraints on the nature of the dark matter and on the astrophysics of galaxy formation at low masses. However, only a…
We present a family of robust tracer mass estimators to compute the enclosed mass of galaxy haloes from samples of discrete positional and kinematical data of tracers, such as halo stars, globular clusters and dwarf satellites. The data may…
We explore the connection between galaxies and dark matter halos in the Milky Way (MW) and quantify the implications on properties of the dark matter particle and the phenomenology of low-mass galaxy formation. This is done through a…
The properties of dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way (MW) are useful for testing models of the formation of our Galaxy, and by extension various theories of cosmology. Recent efforts to measure the masses of the MW's satellite dwarf…
This paper introduces new phase-space models of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). The stellar component has an isotropic, lowered isothermal (or King) distribution function. A physical basis for the isotropization of stellar velocities is…
We present the recently derived Wolf et al. (2009) mass estimator, which is applicable for spherical pressure-supported stellar systems spanning over ten orders of magnitude in luminosity, as a tool to test galaxy formation theories. We…