ON ASYMMETRIC DISTRIBUTIONS OF SATELLITE GALAXIES

We demonstrate that the asymmetric distribution of M31 satellites cannot be produced by tides from the Milky Way as such effects are too weak. However, loosely bound associations and groups of satellites can fall into larger halos and give rise to asymmetries. We compute the survival times for such...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAstrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 793; no. 2; pp. 1 - 4
Main Authors Bowden, A, Evans, N W, Belokurov, V
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.2014
Subjects
Andromeda Galaxy
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASYMMETRY
Dispersions
GALAXIES
Mathematical analysis
MILKY WAY
POTENTIALS
SATELLITES
Skewed distributions
Survival
SURVIVAL TIME
VELOCITY
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Summary:We demonstrate that the asymmetric distribution of M31 satellites cannot be produced by tides from the Milky Way as such effects are too weak. However, loosely bound associations and groups of satellites can fall into larger halos and give rise to asymmetries. We compute the survival times for such associations. We prove that the survival time is always shortest in Keplerian potentials, and can be ~3 times longer in logarithmic potentials. We provide an analytical formula for the dispersal time in terms of the size and velocity dispersion of the infalling structure. We show that, if an association of ~10 dwarfs fell into the M31 halo, its present aspect would be that of an asymmetric disk of satellites. We also discuss the case of cold substructure in the Andromeda II and Ursa Minor dwarfs.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0004-637X
2041-8213
2041-8205
1538-4357
2041-8213
DOI:10.1088/2041-8205/793/2/L42