Related papers: Ursa Major: a missing low-mass CDM halo?
Thanks to instrumental advances, new, very large kinematic datasets for nearby dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are on the horizon. A key aim of these datasets is to help determine the distribution of dark matter in these galaxies. Past…
At present, dwarf spheroidal galaxies satellites of the Milky Way may represent the best astrophysical objects for dark matter (DM) searches with gamma-ray telescopes. They present the highest mass-to-light ratios known in the Universe.…
We report the detection of a radial velocity companion to SDSS J091709.55+463821.8, the lowest mass white dwarf currently known with M~0.17Msun. The radial velocity of the white dwarf shows variations with a semi-amplitude of 148.8 km/s and…
The dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) orbiting the Milky Way are widely regarded as systems supported by velocity dispersion against self-gravity, and as prime targets for the search for indirect dark matter (DM) signatures in the…
Aim: To extend the investigations of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) beyond the well studied Fornax and Virgo clusters. Methods: We measured spectroscopic redshifts of about 400 compact object candidates with 19.2 < V < 22.4 mag in the…
Dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are prime targets for present and future gamma-ray telescopes hunting for indirect signals of particle dark matter. The interpretation of the data requires careful assessment of their dark matter content in…
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…
Understanding dark matter's elusive nature is crucial for the framework of particle physics and expanding the Standard Model. This analysis utilizes the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma ray Observatory to indirectly search for…
Recently van Dokkum et al. (2018b) reported that the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 (DF2) lacks dark matter if located at $20$ Mpc from Earth. In contrast, DF2 is a dark-matter-dominated dwarf galaxy with a normal globular cluster population if it has…
The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims at finding sdBs with compact companions like supermassive white dwarfs (M>1.0 Msun), neutron stars or black holes. The existence of such…
We present the first clear evidence for an extended dark matter halo in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy based on a sample of new radial velocities for 159 giant stars out to large projected radii. Using a two parameter family of halo…
We present Keck/HIRES observations of six metal-poor stars in two of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, Ursa Major II and Coma Berenices. These observations include the first high-resolution spectroscopic observations of…
In the first part of this contribution the observed velocity dispersions in Galactic halo dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are reviewed, and the consequences for dark matter content outlined. The results are suggestive of a dSph dark matter…
The stellar initial mass function at high redshift is an important defining property of the first stellar systems to form and may also play a role in various dark matter problems. We here determine the faint stellar luminosity function in…
Ultrafaint dwarf (UFD) galaxies are dominated by dark matter, the distribution of which may be inferred from the kinematics of that galaxy's stellar population. Star-by-star observations are available for the satellite UFD galaxies of the…
Radio observations of the Ursa Major II dwarf spheroidal galaxy obtained using the Green Bank Telescope are used to place bounds on WIMP dark matter properties. Dark matter annihilation releases energy in the form of charged particles which…
It was recently proposed that the globular cluster system of the very low surface-brightness galaxy NGC1052-DF2 is dynamically very cold, leading to the conclusion that this dwarf galaxy has little or no dark matter. Here, we show that a…
Based on the observed paucity of the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites of the Milky Way at small Galactocentric distances, we put forward the hypothesis that subsequent to the formation of the Milky Way and its satellites, those dSphs that…
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…
Recent advances in deep dedicated imaging surveys over the past decade have uncovered a surprisingly large number of extremely faint low surface brightness galaxies with large physical sizes called ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in clusters…