2017MNRAS.471.4894D -
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 471, 4894-4909 (2017/November-2)
An observer's guide to the (Local Group) dwarf galaxies: predictions for their own dwarf satellite populations.
DOOLEY G.A., PETER A.H.G., YANG T., WILLMAN B., GRIFFEN B.F. and FREBEL A.
Abstract (from CDS):
A recent surge in the discovery of new ultrafaint dwarf satellites of the Milky Way has inspired the idea of searching for faint satellites, 103 M☉ <M* < 106 M☉, around less massive field galaxies in the Local Group. Such satellites would be subject to weaker environmental influences than Milky Way satellites, and could lead to new insights on low-mass galaxy formation. In this paper, we predict the number of luminous satellites expected around field dwarf galaxies by applying several abundance-matching models and a reionization model to the dark-matter only Caterpillar simulation suite. For three of the four abundance-matching models used, we find a >99 per cent chance that at least one satellite with stellar mass M* > 105 M☉ exists around the combined five Local Group field dwarf galaxies with the largest stellar mass. When considering satellites with M* > 104 M☉, we predict a combined 5-25 satellites for the five largest field dwarfs, and 10-50 for the whole Local Group field dwarf population. Because of the relatively small number of predicted dwarfs, and their extended spatial distribution, a large fraction each Local Group dwarf's virial volume will need to be surveyed to guarantee discoveries. We compute the predicted number of satellites in a given field of view of specific Local Group galaxies, as a function of minimum satellite luminosity, and explicitly obtain such values for the Solitary Local dwarfs survey. Uncertainties in abundance-matching and reionization models are large, implying that comprehensive searches could lead to refinements of both models.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
Journal keyword(s):
methods: numerical - galaxies: dwarf - galaxies: haloes - galaxies: haloes
Simbad objects:
48
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