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A low pre-infall mass for the Carina dwarf galaxy from disequilibrium modelling

Author

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  • Uğur Ural

    (Leibniz Institute für Astrophysik Potsdam)

  • Mark I. Wilkinson

    (University of Leicester)

  • Justin I. Read

    (Astrophysics Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey)

  • Matthew G. Walker

    (McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract

Dark matter-only simulations of galaxy formation predict many more subhalos around a Milky Way-like galaxy than the number of observed satellites. Proposed solutions require the satellites to inhabit dark matter halos with masses 109–1010Msun at the time they fell into the Milky Way. Here we use a modelling approach, independent of cosmological simulations, to obtain a pre-infall mass of Msun for one of the Milky Way’s satellites: Carina. This determination of a low halo mass for Carina can be accommodated within the standard model only if galaxy formation becomes stochastic in halos below ∼1010Msun. Otherwise Carina, the eighth most luminous Milky Way dwarf, would be expected to inhabit a significantly more massive halo. The implication of this is that a population of ‘dark dwarfs’ should orbit the Milky Way: halos devoid of stars and yet more massive than many of their visible counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Uğur Ural & Mark I. Wilkinson & Justin I. Read & Matthew G. Walker, 2015. "A low pre-infall mass for the Carina dwarf galaxy from disequilibrium modelling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-5, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms8599
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8599
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