Related papers: The APOSTLE project: Local Group kinematic mass co…
We have explored the hypothesis that the total mass-ratio of the two main galaxies of the Local Group: Andromeda Galaxy(M31) and the Milky Way (MW) can be constrained measuring the tidal force induced by the surrounding mass distribution,…
Our nearest large cosmological neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy (M31), is a dynamical system, and an accurate measurement of its total mass is central to our understanding of its assembly history, the life-cycles of its satellite galaxies,…
We use the recently proposed scale-free mass estimators to determine the masses of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) galaxy in a dark matter only Constrained Local UniversE Simulation (CLUES). While these mass estimators work rather…
Our Local Group, dominated in mass by the Milky Way (MW) and M31, provides a unique laboratory for testing $\Lambda$CDM cosmology on small scales owing to its proximity. However, its connection to the surrounding large-scale environment,…
The Local Group timing has been one of the first historical probes of the missing mass problem. Whilst modern cosmological probes indicate that pure baryonic dynamics is not sufficient on the largest scales, nearby galaxies and small galaxy…
In this work an ensemble of simulated Local Group analogues is used to constrain the properties of the mass assembly history of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) galaxies. These objects have been obtained using the constrained…
The timing argument (TA) aims to find the total mass of the Local Group (LG) from the relative motions of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda Galaxy (M31). However, the classical TA always overestimates the LG mass, presumably because it does…
We present a spectroscopic survey of the giant stellar stream found in the halo of the Andromeda galaxy. Taken with the DEIMOS multi-object spectrograph on the Keck2 telescope, these data display a narrow velocity dispersion of 11+/-3 km/s,…
This paper argues that the Milky Way galaxy is probably the largest member of the Local Group. The evidence comes from estimates of the total mass of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) derived from the three dimensional positions and radial…
We introduce a set of high-resolution dissipationless simulations that model the Local Group (LG) in a cosmological context: Exploring the Local Volume in Simulations (ELVIS). The suite contains 48 Galaxy-size halos, each within…
While many tensions between Local Group (LG) satellite galaxies and LCDM cosmology have been alleviated through recent cosmological simulations, the spatial distribution of satellites remains an important test of physical models and…
The positions and velocities of galaxies in the Local Group (LG) measure the gravitational field within it. This is mostly due to the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31). We constrain their masses using distance and radial velocity (RV)…
We introduce a new set of large N-body runs, the MICE simulations, that provide a unique combination of very large cosmological volumes with good mass resolution. They follow the gravitational evolution of ~ 8.5 billion particles (2048^3)…
This paper explores the effect of the LMC on the mass estimates obtained from the timing argument. We show that accounting for the presence of the LMC systematically lowers the Local Group mass ($M_{\rm LG}$) derived from the relative…
N-body simulations were conducted of pairs of galaxies with a 3:1 mass ratio on parabolic orbits, in order to quantify the effect of dynamical friction. The effects of varying the ratio of the dark matter halo size to the distance of…
The dynamics of the Local Group and its environment provide a unique challenge to cosmological models. The velocity field within 5h-1 Mpc of the Local Group (LG) is extremely ``cold''. The deviation from a pure Hubble flow, characterized by…
We examine the prevalence, longevity, and causes of planes of satellite dwarf galaxies, as observed in the Local Group. We use 14 Milky Way/Andromeda-(MW/M31) mass host galaxies from the FIRE-2 simulations. We select the 14 most massive…
Understanding the evolution of satellite galaxies of the Milky Way (MW) and M31 requires modeling their orbital histories across cosmic time. Many works that model satellite orbits incorrectly assume or approximate that the host halo…
This paper is the first in a series which studies interactions between M31 and its satellites, including the origin of the giant southern stream. We construct accurate yet simple analytic models for the potential of the M31 galaxy to…
We use Density Estimation Likelihood-Free Inference, $\Lambda$ Cold Dark Matter simulations of $\sim 2M$ galaxy pairs, and data from Gaia and the Hubble Space Telescope to infer the sum of the masses of the Milky Way and Andromeda (M31)…