Giant disk galaxies : Where environment trumps mass in galaxy evolution

We identify some of the most HI massive and fastest rotating disk galaxies in the local universe with the aim of probing the processes that drive the formation of these extreme disk galaxies. By combining data from the Cosmic Flows project, which has consistently reanalyzed archival galaxy HI profiles, and 3.6$\mu$m photometry obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, with which we can measure stellar mass, we use the baryonic Tully-Fisher (BTF) relationship to explore whether these massive galaxies are distinct. We discuss several results, but the most striking is the systematic offset of the HI-massive sample above the BTF. These galaxies have both more gas and more stars in their disks than the typical disk galaxy of similar rotational velocity. The "condensed" baryon fraction, $f_C$, the fraction of the baryons in a dark matter halo that settle either as cold gas or stars into the disk, is twice as high in the HI-massive sample than typical, and almost reaches the universal baryon fraction in some cases, suggesting that the most extreme of these galaxies have little in the way of a hot baryonic component or cold baryons distributed well outside the disk. In contrast, the star formation efficiency, measured as the ratio of the mass in stars to that in both stars and gas, shows no difference between the HI-massive sample and the typical disk galaxies. We conclude that the star formation efficiency is driven by an internal, self-regulating process, while $f_C$ is affected by external factors. We also found that the most massive HI detected galaxies are located preferentially in filaments. We present the first evidence of an environmental effect on galaxy evolution using a dynamical definition of a filament.Comment: 14 pages, in press MNRA

Deep imaging of Eridanus II and its lone star cluster

We present deep imaging of the most distant dwarf discovered by the Dark Energy Survey, Eridanus II (Eri II). Our Magellan/Megacam stellar photometry reaches $\sim$$3$ mag deeper than previous work, and allows us to confirm the presence of a stellar cluster whose position is consistent with Eri II's center. This makes Eri II, at $M_V=-7.1$, the least luminous galaxy known to host a (possibly central) cluster. The cluster is partially resolved, and at $M_V=-3.5$ it accounts for $\sim$$4\%$ of Eri II's luminosity. We derive updated structural parameters for Eri II, which has a half-light radius of $\sim$$280$ pc and is elongated ($\epsilon$$\sim$$0.48$), at a measured distance of $D$$\sim$$370$ kpc. The color-magnitude diagram displays a blue, extended horizontal branch, as well as a less populated red horizontal branch. A central concentration of stars brighter than the old main sequence turnoff hints at a possible intermediate-age ($\sim$$3$ Gyr) population; alternatively, these sources could be blue straggler stars. A deep Green Bank Telescope observation of Eri II reveals no associated atomic gas.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; ApJL accepte

Microlens Parallax Asymmetries Toward the LMC

If the microlensing events now being detected toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are due to lenses in the Milky Way halo, then the events should typically have asymmetries of order 1% due to parallax from the reflex motion of the Earth. By contrast, if the lenses are in the LMC, the parallax effects should be negligible. A ground-based search for such parallax asymmetries would therefore clarify the location of the lenses. A modest effort (2 hours per night on a 1 m telescope) could measure 15 parallax asymmetries over 5 years and so marginally discriminate between the halo and the LMC as the source of the lenses. A dedicated 1 m telescope would approximately double the number of measurements and would therefore clearly distinguish between the alternatives. However, compared to satellite parallaxes, the information extracted from ground-based parallaxes is substantially less useful for understanding the nature of the halo lenses (if that is what they are). The backgrounds of asymmetries due to binary-source and binary-lens events are estimated to be approximately 7% and 12% respectively. These complicate the interpretation of detected parallax asymmetries, but not critically.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 17 pages, including 2 embedded figure

Kinematics of Tidal Debris from Omega Centauri's Progenitor Galaxy

We present the kinematic properties of a tidally disrupted dwarf galaxy in the Milky Way, based on the hypothesis that its central part once contained the most massive Galactic globular cluster, omega Cen. Dynamical evolution of a self-gravitating progenitor galaxy that follows the present-day and likely past orbits of omega Cen is calculated numerically and the kinematic nature of their tidal debris is analyzed, combined with randomly generated stars comprising spheroidal halo and flat disk components. We show that the retrograde rotation of the debris stars at $\sim -100$ km/s accords with a recently discovered, large radial velocity stream at $\sim 300$ km/s towards the Galactic longitude of $\sim 270^\circ$. These stars also contribute, only in part, to a reported retrograde motion of the outer halo at the North Galactic Pole. The prospects for future debris searches and the implications for the early evolution of the Galaxy are briefly presented.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The Caustic Ring Model of the Milky Way Halo

We present a proposal for the full phase space distribution of the Milky Way halo. The model is axially and reflection symmetric and its time evolution is self-similar. It describes the halo as a set of discrete dark matter flows with stated densities and velocity vectors everywhere. We first discuss the general conditions under which the time evolution of a cold collisionless self-gravitating fluid is self-similar, and show that symmetry is not necessary for self-similarity. When spherical symmetry is imposed, the model is the same as described by Fillmore and Goldreich, and by Bertschinger, twenty-three years ago. The spherically symmetric model depends on one dimensionless parameter $\epsilon$ and two dimensionful parameters. We set $\epsilon$ = 0.3, a value consistent with the slope of the power spectrum of density perturbations on galactic scales. The dimensionful parameters are determined by the Galactic rotation velocity (220 km/s) at the position of the Sun and by the age of the Galaxy (13.7 Gyr). The properties of the outer caustics are derived in the spherically symmetric model. The structure of the inner halo depends on the angular momentum distribution of the dark matter particles. We assume that distribution to be axial and reflection symmetric, and dominated by net overall rotation. The inner caustics are rings whose radii are determined in terms of a single additional parameter $j_{\rm max}$. We summarize the observational evidence in support of the model. The evidence is consistent with $j_{\rm max}$ = 0.18 in Concordance Cosmology, equivalent to $j_{\rm max,old}$ = 0.26 in Einstein - de Sitter cosmology. We give formulas to estimate the flow densities and velocity vectors anywhere in the Milky Way halo. The properties of the first forty flows at the location of the Earth are listed.Comment: 35 pages, 6 figure