Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2000-12-14
Astron.J. 122 (2001) 1397-1419
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
30 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal
Scientific paper
10.1086/322995
We have simulated the evolution of tidal debris in the Galactic halo in order to guide our ongoing survey to determine the fraction of halo mass accreted via satellite infall. Contrary to naive expectations that the satellite debris will produce a single narrow velocity peak on a smooth distribution, there are many different signatures of substructure, including multiple peaks and broad but asymmetrical velocity distributions. Observations of the simulations show that there is a high probability of detecting the presence of tidal debris with a pencil beam survey of 100 square degrees. In the limiting case of a single 10^7 Msun satellite contributing 1% of the luminous halo mass the detection probability is a few percent using just the velocities of 100 halo stars in a single 1 square degree field. The detection probabilities scale with the accreted fraction of the halo and the number of fields surveyed. There is also surprisingly little dependence of the detection probabilities on the time since the satellite became tidally disrupted, or on the initial orbit of the satellite, except for the time spent in the survey volume.
Arabadjis John
Dohm-Palmer Robbie C.
Freeman Kenneth C.
Harding Paul
Mateo Mario
No associations
LandOfFree
Mapping the Galactic Halo III. Simulated Observations of Tidal Streams does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Mapping the Galactic Halo III. Simulated Observations of Tidal Streams, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Mapping the Galactic Halo III. Simulated Observations of Tidal Streams will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-59308