Orbits versus Star Formation Histories: A Progress Report

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

We investigate the orbits of the dwarf galaxy satellites of the Milky Way and Andromeda using the available proper motions, extra-tidal stars and position angles, radial velocities, and distances determined in a uniform manner. We calculate possible past orbits of the satellites and compare them to the known star formation episodes in these galaxies to assess the role of interactions in their evolutionary histories. Our study indicates that most dwarf satellites of the Milky Way and M31 are on polar orbits. In addition, we find that several of Andromeda's satellites appear to be aligned along a near-polar great circle, or plane. The apparent preference for stable polar orbits suggests that the currently observed dwarf satellites may be survivors of an earlier much more numerous dwarf galaxy population. Finally, we discuss evidence from Hipparcos and ground-based proper motions and space motions in favor and against accretion origin for a number of ``young'' halo globular clusters believed to be associated with great circles.

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