Discs of satellites: The new dwarf spheroidals

Manuel Metz*, Pavel Kroupa, Helmut Jerjen

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    99 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The spatial distributions of the most recently discovered ultra-faint dwarf satellites around the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy are compared to the previously reported discs-of-satellites (DoS) of their host galaxies. In our investigation, we pay special attention to the selection bias introduced due to the limited sky coverage of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find that the new Milky Way satellite galaxies follow closely the DoS defined by the more luminous dwarfs, thereby further emphasizing the statistical significance of this feature in the Galactic halo. We also note a deficit of satellite galaxies with Galactocentric distances larger than 100 kpc that are away from the DoS of the Milky Way. In the case of Andromeda, we obtain similar results, naturally complementing our previous finding and strengthening the notion that the DoS are optical manifestations of a phase-space correlation of satellite galaxies.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)2223-2228
    Number of pages6
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume394
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2009

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