Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-11-30
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
4 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the AIP proceedings of "Hunting for the Dark: The Hidden Side of Galaxy Formation"
Scientific paper
We present the recently derived Wolf et al. (2009) mass estimator, which is applicable for spherical pressure-supported stellar systems spanning over ten orders of magnitude in luminosity, as a tool to test galaxy formation theories. We show that all of the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies (MW dSphs) are consistent with having formed within a halo of mass approximately 3 x 10^9 Msun in LCDM cosmology. The faintest MW dSphs seem to have formed in dark matter halos that are at least as massive as those of the brightest MW dSphs, despite the almost five orders of magnitude spread in luminosity. We expand our analysis to the full range of observed pressure-supported stellar systems and examine their half-light I-band mass-to-light ratios. The M/L vs. half-light mass M_1/2 relation for pressure-supported galaxies follows a U-shape, with a broad minimum near M/L ~ 3 that spans dwarf elliptical galaxies to normal ellipticals, a steep rise to M/L ~ 3,200 for ultra-faint dSphs, and a more shallow rise to M/L ~ 800 for galaxy cluster spheroids.
No associations
LandOfFree
Testing galaxy formation scenarios with a new mass estimator 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 Testing galaxy formation scenarios with a new mass estimator, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Testing galaxy formation scenarios with a new mass estimator will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-444376