Related papers: Andromeda's asymmetric satellite system as a chall…
There are two fundamentally different physical origins of faint satellite galaxies: cosmological sub-structures that contain shining baryons and the fragmentation of gas-rich tidal arms thrown out from interacting galaxies during…
The spatial distribution of the satellite populations of the Milky Way and Andromeda are puzzling in that they are nearly perpendicular to the disks of their central galaxies. To understand the origin of such configurations we study the…
The highly flattened distribution of satellite galaxies in the Milky Way presents a number of puzzles. Firstly, its polar alignment stands out from the planar alignments commonly found in other galaxies. Secondly, recent proper motion…
The recently discovered vast thin plane of dwarf satellites orbiting the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) adds to the mystery of the small scale distribution of the Local Group's galaxy population. Such well defined planar structures are apparently…
The spatial distribution of dwarf galaxies around their host galaxies is a critical test for the standard model of cosmology because it probes the dynamics of dark matter halos and is independent of the internal baryonic processes of…
We investigate the spatial distribution of galactic satellites in high resolution simulations of structure formation in the LCDM model: the Aquarius dark matter simulations of individual halos and the Millennium II simulation of a large…
Many of the satellites of galactic-mass systems such as the Miky Way, Andromeda and Centaurus A show evidence of coherent motions to a larger extent than most of the systems predicted by the standard cosmological model. It is an open…
The Andromeda galaxy is observed to have a system of two large dwarf ellipticals and ~13 smaller satellite galaxies that are currently co-rotating in a thin plane, in addition to 2 counter-rotating satellite galaxies. We explored the…
The satellite galaxies of the Local Group provide us with an important probe of galaxy formation, evolution, and cosmology. The two large spirals that dominate this group -- the Milky Way and Andromeda -- are each host to tens of…
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 present the discovery of three faint dwarf galaxies and a globular cluster in the halo of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), found in our MegaCam survey that spans the southern quadrant of M31, from a projected distance of ~50 kpc to \~150 kpc.…
Using spectroscopic data taken with Keck II DEIMOS by the Z-PAndAS team in the Andromeda-Triangulum region, I present a comparison of the disc and satellite systems of Andromeda with those of our own Galaxy. I discuss the observed…
We present the discovery of Andromeda XXXV, the faintest Andromeda satellite galaxy discovered to date, identified as an overdensity of stars in the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey and confirmed via Hubble Space Telescope imaging.…
The highly anisotropic distribution and apparent alignment of the Galactic satellites in polar great planes begs the question how common such distributions are. The satellite system of M31 is the only nearby system for which we currently…
The arrangement of dwarf galaxies in a thin plane surrounding the Milky Way has been thought to contradict the prevailing cosmological model of cold dark matter in the Universe. New work suggests that this arrangement may just be a…
The thin, extended planes of satellite galaxies detected around both the Milky Way and Andromeda are not a natural prediction of the LCDM paradigm. Galaxies in these distinct planes may have formed and evolved in a different way (e.g.,…
We report the discovery of a new dwarf galaxy, Andromeda XXVIII, using data from the recently-released SDSS DR8. The galaxy is a likely satellite of Andromeda, and, at a separation of $365^{+17}_{-1}$ kpc, would be one of the most distant…
The abundance of satellite galaxies provides a direct test of $\Lambda$CDM and galaxy formation physics on small scales. While satellites of Milky Way-mass galaxies are well studied, those of dwarf galaxies remain largely unexplored. We…
We employ recently published measurements of the velocity dispersions in the newly discovered dwarf satellite galaxies of Andromeda to test our previously published predictions of this quantity. The data are in good agreement with our…
It was found that satellites of nearby galaxies can form flattened co-rotating structures called disks of satellites or planes of satellites. Their existence is not expected by the current galaxy formation simulations in the standard…