Computer Science
Scientific paper
Apr 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005idm..conf...92m&link_type=abstract
THE IDENTIFICATION OF DARK MATTER. Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop. Held 6-10 September 2004 in Edinburgh, UK. E
Computer Science
Scientific paper
A panoramic survey of M31's outer regions using the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Field Camera has revealed a substantial and surprising amount of stellar substructure in the halo of this spiral galaxy, some of which can be used to probe the dark matter distribution of the halo. In particular, a giant stellar stream is observed to extend over a radial range of some 120 kpc from the centre of M31. Combining this with radial velocity data, taken with Keck/DEIMOS, allows for numerical modelling of the orbit of the stream and directly measures, for the first time, the mass of a giant galaxy's halo out to large galactocentric radius. The dynamical mass of M31 within the volume probed by the stream is 7.5 - 15 × 1011 M&sun;, and a halo of mass < 5 × 1011 M&sun; is ruled out at the 99% confidence level. A complimentary study of M31's satellite galaxies reveals that their distribution is extremely assymetric, and that the gross assymetry correlates strongly with the position of the Milky Way. The causes of such a distribution, and the consequences for the usage of the satellites as tracers of the dynamical mass of M31, are discussed.
Chapman Scott
Ferguson Annette
Huxor Avon
Ibata Rodrigo
Irwin Mike
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