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- Title
The remnants of galaxy formation from a panoramic survey of the region around M31.
- Authors
McConnachie, Alan W.; Irwin, Michael J.; Ibata, Rodrigo A.; Dubinski, John; Widrow, Lawrence M.; Martin, Nicolas F.; Côté, Patrick; Dotter, Aaron L.; Navarro, Julio F.; Ferguson, Annette M. N.; Puzia, Thomas H.; Lewis, Geraint F.; Babul, Arif; Barmby, Pauline; Bienaymé, Olivier; Chapman, Scott C.; Cockcroft, Robert; Collins, Michelle L. M.; Fardal, Mark A.; Harris, William E.
- Abstract
In hierarchical cosmological models, galaxies grow in mass through the continual accretion of smaller ones. The tidal disruption of these systems is expected to result in loosely bound stars surrounding the galaxy, at distances that reach 10–100 times the radius of the central disk. The number, luminosity and morphology of the relics of this process provide significant clues to galaxy formation history, but obtaining a comprehensive survey of these components is difficult because of their intrinsic faintness and vast extent. Here we report a panoramic survey of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). We detect stars and coherent structures that are almost certainly remnants of dwarf galaxies destroyed by the tidal field of M31. An improved census of their surviving counterparts implies that three-quarters of M31’s satellites brighter than Mv = -6 await discovery. The brightest companion, Triangulum (M33), is surrounded by a stellar structure that provides persuasive evidence for a recent encounter with M31. This panorama of galaxy structure directly confirms the basic tenets of the hierarchical galaxy formation model and reveals the shared history of M31 and M33 in the unceasing build-up of galaxies.
- Subjects
GALAXY formation; ANDROMEDA Galaxy; DWARF galaxies; SURVEYS; STAR formation; SPIRAL galaxies; GALAXIES; METAPHYSICAL cosmology; MORPHOLOGY
- Publication
Nature, 2009, Vol 461, Issue 7260, p66
- ISSN
0028-0836
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nature08327