Exploring the 3rd Dimension: The Line-of-Sight Depth of the Carina and Fornax dSph Galaxies

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Scientific paper

The nearby dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are particularly interesting as they arguably correspond to the smallest dark matter halos ever formed. As such they provide a possible direct link to the structures of the early Universe from which larger galaxies were assembled. Our large-scale kinematic study of nearby dSph galaxies reveals that even remote satellite systems may exhibit evidence of tidal effects with the Milky Way. This result calls into question studies that aim to measure the dark matter halos of these systems, especially those based on simple (and tractable) equilibrium dynamical models. We propose to explore the importance of tidal perturbations in the kinematics of nearby dwarfs by by using dwarf Cepheids to measure the depths of two Southern dSph galaxies that reveal kinematic evidence of possible tidal streaming (Carina), or kinematic substructure (Fornax). These data from the third dimension strongly constrain specific orbital models of tidal perturbations and give us quantitative estimates of the magnitude of tidal heating. We can then produce more realistic dynamical models that, in turn, provide better estimates of the masses and extents of the underlying dark halos of these galaxies. Our approach can detect depths as small as (Delta) DoverD 5%, which can easily distinguish between models where tides or substructure dominate, from those where such effects only mildly perturb equilibrium dynamics.

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