Are rotating planes of satellite galaxies ubiquitous?

Phillips, John; Cooper, Michael C.; Bullock, James S.; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael

doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1770

Cited by 43 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Libeskind et al (2015) have used ΛCDM simulations to suggest that some alignment of satellite systems in the local Universe may be naturally explained by the ambient shear field, though they cannot explain thin planes this way. Importantly, Phillips et al (2015) have re-analyzed the SDSS data and argued that it is not consistent with a ubiquitous co-rotating satellite population and rather more likely a statistical fluctuation. More data that enables a statistical sample of hosts down to fainter satellites will be needed to determine whether the configurations seen in the Local Group are common.…”

Section: Satellite Planesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small-Scale Challenges to the ΛCDM Paradigm

Bullock

Boylan-Kolchin

2017

Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.

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1,316

1,017

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The dark energy plus cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model has been a demonstrably successful framework for predicting and explaining the large-scale structure of Universe and its evolution with time. Yet on length scales smaller than ∼ 1 Mpc and mass scales smaller than ∼ 10 11 M , the theory faces a number of challenges. For example, the observed cores of many dark-matter dominated galaxies are both less dense and less cuspy than naively predicted in ΛCDM. The number of small galaxies and dwarf satellites in the Local Group is also far below the predicted count of low-mass dark matter halos and subhalos within similar volumes. These issues underlie the most well-documented problems with ΛCDM: Cusp/Core, Missing Satellites, and Too-Big-to-Fail. The key question is whether a better understanding of baryon physics, dark matter physics, or both will be required to meet these challenges. Other anomalies, including the observed planar and orbital configurations of Local Group satellites and the tight baryonic/dark matter scaling relations obeyed by the galaxy population, have been less thoroughly explored in the context of ΛCDM theory. Future surveys to discover faint, distant dwarf galaxies and to precisely measure their masses and density structure hold promising avenues for testing possible solutions to the small-scale challenges going forward. Observational programs to constrain or discover and characterize the number of truly dark low-mass halos are among the most important, and achievable, goals in this field over then next decade. These efforts will either further verify the ΛCDM paradigm or demand a substantial revision in our understanding of the nature of dark matter.

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Section: Satellite Planesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small-Scale Challenges to the ΛCDM Paradigm

Bullock

Boylan-Kolchin

2017

Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.

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1,316

1,017

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“…The member satellites rotate about M31 in the same sense. The reality and probability of this plane has been discussed at length, especially with regard to whether such a structure is consistent with galaxy formation in a ΛCDM cosmology (see, e.g., Hammer et al 2013;Bahl & Baumgardt 2014;Ibata et al 2014;Pawlowski et al 2014;Buck et al 2015;Gillet et al 2015;Libeskind et al 2015;Phillips et al 2015). Collins et al (2015) have investigated the possibility that inplane galaxies and off-plane galaxies may have formed and evolved differently.…”

Section: Quenching By Reionization?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The ISLAndS Project. II. The Lifetime Star Formation Histories of Six Andromeda dSphs*

Skillman

Monelli

Weisz

et al. 2017

ApJ

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111

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The Initial Star formation and Lifetimes of Andromeda Satellites (ISLAndS) project employs Hubble Space Telescope imaging to study a representative sample of six Andromeda dSph satellite companion galaxies. Our main goal is to determine whether the star formation histories (SFHs) of the Andromeda dSph satellites demonstrate significant statistical differences from those of the Milky Way (MW). Our deep observations yield a time resolution at the oldest ages of ∼1 Gyr, allowing meaningful comparisons to the MW satellites. The six dSphs present a variety of SFHs (e.g., a significant range in quenching times, t q , from 9 to 6 Gyr ago) that are not strictly correlated with luminosity or present distance from M31. In agreement with observations of MW companions of similar mass, there is no evidence of complete quenching of star formation by the cosmic UV background responsible for reionization, but the possibility of a degree of quenching at reionization cannot be ruled out. We do not find significant differences between the SFHs of the members and non-members of the vast, thin plane of satellites. The SFHs of the ISLAndS M31 dSphs appear to be more uniform than those of the MW dSphs. Specifically, the primary difference between the SFHs of the ISLAndS dSphs and MW dSph companions of similar luminosities and host distances is the absence of late-quenching (  t 5 Gyr q ) dSphs in the ISLAndS sample. Thus, models that can produce satellite populations with and without late-quenching satellites are of extreme interest.

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“…Their analysis suggests that corotating dwarf galaxies might be common, although this result has been challenged by recent papers (e.g. Phillips et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

On the stability of satellite planes – I. Effects of mass, velocity, halo shape and alignment

Fernando

Arias

Guglielmo

et al. 2016

Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.

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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 rare occurrences in cold dark matter cosmological simulations, and we lack a coherent explanation of their formation and existence. In this paper, we explore the long-term survivability of thin planes of dwarfs in galactic halos, focusing, in particular, on systems mimicking the observed Andromeda distribution. The key results show that, in general, planes of dwarf galaxies are fragile, sensitive to the shape of the dark matter halo and other perturbing effects. In fact, long lived planes of satellites only exist in polar orbits in spherical dark matter halos, presenting a challenge to the observed Andromeda plane which is significantly tilted with respect to the optical disk. Our conclusion is that, in standard cosmological models, planes of satellites are generally short lived, and hence we must be located at a relatively special time in the evolution of the Andromeda Plane, lucky enough to see its coherent pattern.

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Are rotating planes of satellite galaxies ubiquitous?

Cited by 43 publications

References 63 publications

Small-Scale Challenges to the ΛCDM Paradigm

Small-Scale Challenges to the ΛCDM Paradigm

The ISLAndS Project. II. The Lifetime Star Formation Histories of Six Andromeda dSphs*

On the stability of satellite planes – I. Effects of mass, velocity, halo shape and alignment

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