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Milky Way mass constraints from the Galactic satellite gap
- Source :
- Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2014, Vol.445(2), pp.2049-2060 [Peer Reviewed Journal], Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 445, 2049-2060. Oxford University Press
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press, 2014.
-
Abstract
- We use the distribution of maximum circular velocities, $V_{max}$, of satellites in the Milky Way (MW) to constrain the virial mass, $M_{200}$, of the Galactic halo under an assumed prior of a $\Lambda$CDM universe. This is done by analysing the subhalo populations of a large sample of halos found in the Millennium II cosmological simulation. The observation that the MW has at most three subhalos with $V_{max}\ge30 km/s$ requires a halo mass $M_{200}\le1.4\times10^{12} M_\odot$, while the existence of the Magellanic Clouds (assumed to have $V_{max}\ge60 km/s$) requires $M_{200}\ge1.0\times10^{12} M_\odot$. The first of these conditions is necessary to avoid the "too-big-to-fail" problem highlighted by Boylan-Kolchin et al., while the second stems from the observation that massive satellites like the Magellanic Clouds are rare. When combining both requirements, we find that the MW halo mass must lie in the range $0.25 \le M_{200}/(10^{12} M_\odot) \le 1.4$ at $90\%$ confidence. The gap in the abundance of Galactic satellites between $30 km/s\le V_{max} \le 60 km/s$ places our galaxy in the tail of the expected satellite distribution.<br />Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, updated to match published version in MNRAS
- Subjects :
- Cold dark matter
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
Milky Way
Dark matter
FOS: Physical sciences
Astrophysics
01 natural sciences
dark matter
Galactic halo
0103 physical sciences
halo [Galaxy]
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Physics
010308 nuclear & particles physics
Astronomy
abundances [Galaxy]
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Virial mass
Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Galaxy
Galaxy: halo
Dark matter halo
Space and Planetary Science
Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
Galaxy: abundances
Halo
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 13652966
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2014, Vol.445(2), pp.2049-2060 [Peer Reviewed Journal], Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 445, 2049-2060. Oxford University Press
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0951fde7dc1ada22e805d17f770d5bd5