11,802 research outputs found
Sagittarius: The Nearest Dwarf Galaxy
We have discovered a new Galactic satellite galaxy in the constellation of
Sagittarius. The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy is the nearest galaxy known, subtends
an angle of degrees on the sky, lies at a distance of 24 \kpc from the
Sun, \sim 16 \kpc from the centre of the Milky Way. Itis comparable in size
and luminosity to the largest dwarf spheroidal, has a well populated red
horizontal branch with a blue HB extension; a substantial carbon star
population; and a strong intermediate age stellar component with evidence of a
metallicity spread. Isodensity maps show it to be markedly elongated along a
direction pointing towards the Galactic centre and suggest that it has been
tidally distorted. The close proximity to the Galactic centre, the
morphological appearance and the radial velocity of 140 km/s indicate that this
system must have undergone at most very few close orbital encounters with the
Milky Way. It is currently undergoing strong tidal disruption prior to being
integrated into the Galaxy. Probably all of the four globular clusters, M54,
Arp 2, Ter 7 and Ter 8, are associated with the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, and
will probably share the fate of their progenitor.Comment: MNRAS in press, 22pp uuencoded PS file, 26 printed figures available
on request from [email protected]
Astrometric Effects of Gravitational Wave Backgrounds with non-Luminal Propagation Speeds
A passing gravitational wave causes a deflection in the apparent astrometric positions of distant stars. The effect of the speed of the gravitational wave on this astrometric shift is discussed. A stochastic background of gravitational waves would result in a pattern of astrometric deflections which are correlated on large angular scales. These correlations are quantified and investigated for backgrounds of gravitational waves with sub- and super-luminal group velocities. The statistical properties of the correlations are depicted in two equivalent and related ways: as correlation curves and as angular power spectra. Sub-(super-)luminal gravitational wave backgrounds have the effect of enhancing (suppressing) the power in low-order angular modes. Analytical representations of the redshift-redshift and redshift-astrometry correlations are also derived. The potential for using this effect for constraining the speed of gravity is discussed
The Absence of Extra-Tidal Structure in the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
The results of a wide-field survey of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy
are presented. Our aims were to obtain an accurate map of the outer structure
of Sculptor, and to determine the level of interaction between this system and
the Galaxy. Photometry was obtained in two colours down to the magnitude limits
of V=20 and I=19, covering a 3.1 times 3.1 square deg area centred on Sculptor.
The resulting colour-magnitude data were used as a mask to select candidate
horizontal branch and red giant branch stars for this system. Previous work has
shown that the red horizontal branch (HB) stars are more concentrated than the
blue HB stars. We have determined the radial distributions of these two
populations and show that the overall Sculptor density profile is well
described by a two component model based on a combination of these radial
distributions. Additionally, spectra of the Ca ii triplet region were obtained
for over 700 candidate red giant stars over the 10 square deg region using the
2dF instrument on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. These spectra were used to
remove foreground Galactic stars based on radial velocity and Ca ii triplet
strength. The final list of Sculptor members contained 148 stars, seven of
which are located beyond the nominal tidal radius. Both the photometric and
spectroscopic datasets indicate no significant extra-tidal structure. These
results support at most a mild level of interaction between this system and the
Galaxy, and we have measured an upper mass limit for extra-tidal material to be
2.3 +/- 0.6% of the Sculptor luminous mass. This lack of tidal interaction
indicates that previous velocity dispersion measurements (and hence the amount
of dark matter detected) in this system are not strongly influenced by the
Galactic tidal field.Comment: 53 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journal. Some figures are reduced in size, and a full version is available
at: ftp://ftp.mso.anu.edu.au/pub/coleman/sculptor.pd
Mass loss from dwarf spheroidal galaxies: the origins of shallow dark matter cores and exponential surface brightness profiles
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies have shallow central dark matter density profiles,
low angular momentum and approximately exponential surface brightness
distributions. Through N-body simulations and analytic calculations we
investigate the extent to which these properties can be generated from
``typical'' CDM galaxies, which differ in all of these properties, by
the dynamical consequences of feedback.
We find that, for a wide range of initial conditions, one impulsive mass loss
event will naturally produce a surface brightness profile in the remaining
stellar component of a dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) which is well fit over
many scale lengths by an exponential, in good qualitative agreement with
observations of Local Group dSphs. Furthermore, two impulsive mass loss phases,
punctuated by significant gas re-accretion, are found to be sufficient to
transform a central density cusp in the dark matter profile into a
near-constant density core. This may then provide the missing link between
current cosmological simulations, which predict a central cusp in the dark
matter density profile, and current observations, which find much shallower
central density profiles.
We also look at the angular momentum history of dSphs and demonstrate that if
these galaxies have spent most of their lifetime in tidal isolation from
massive galaxies then they cannot have formed from high angular momentum gas
discs.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. High
resolution figures may be obtained from: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jir2
LSST optical beam simulator
We describe a camera beam simulator for the LSST which is capable of
illuminating a 60mm field at f/1.2 with realistic astronomical scenes, enabling
studies of CCD astrometric and photometric performance. The goal is to fully
simulate LSST observing, in order to characterize charge transport and other
features in the thick fully depleted CCDs and to probe low level systematics
under realistic conditions. The automated system simulates the centrally
obscured LSST beam and sky scenes, including the spectral shape of the night
sky. The doubly telecentric design uses a nearly unit magnification design
consisting of a spherical mirror, three BK7 lenses, and one beam-splitter
window. To achieve the relatively large field the beam-splitter window is used
twice. The motivation for this LSST beam test facility was driven by the need
to fully characterize a new generation of thick fully-depleted CCDs, and assess
their suitability for the broad range of science which is planned for LSST. Due
to the fast beam illumination and the thick silicon design [each pixel is 10
microns wide and over 100 microns deep] at long wavelengths there can be
effects of photon transport and charge transport in the high purity silicon.
The focal surface covers a field more than sufficient for a 40x40 mm LSST CCD.
Delivered optical quality meets design goals, with 50% energy within a 5 micron
circle. The tests of CCD performance are briefly described.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
The tidal stripping of satellites
We present an improved analytic calculation for the tidal radius of
satellites and test our results against N-body simulations.
The tidal radius in general depends upon four factors: the potential of the
host galaxy, the potential of the satellite, the orbit of the satellite and
{\it the orbit of the star within the satellite}. We demonstrate that this last
point is critical and suggest using {\it three tidal radii} to cover the range
of orbits of stars within the satellite. In this way we show explicitly that
prograde star orbits will be more easily stripped than radial orbits; while
radial orbits are more easily stripped than retrograde ones. This result has
previously been established by several authors numerically, but can now be
understood analytically. For point mass, power-law (which includes the
isothermal sphere), and a restricted class of split power law potentials our
solution is fully analytic. For more general potentials, we provide an equation
which may be rapidly solved numerically. Over short times (\simlt 1-2 Gyrs
satellite orbit), we find excellent agreement between our analytic and
numerical models. Over longer times, star orbits within the satellite are
transformed by the tidal field of the host galaxy. In a Hubble time, this
causes a convergence of the three limiting tidal radii towards the prograde
stripping radius. Beyond the prograde stripping radius, the velocity dispersion
will be tangentially anisotropic.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Final version accepted for publication in MNRAS.
Some new fully analytic tidal radii have been added for power law density
profiles (including the isothermal sphere) and some split power law
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