Hidden depths in the local Universe: The Stellar Stream Legacy Survey

DOI: 
10.1051/0004-6361/202245011
Publication date: 
13/03/2023
Main author: 
Martínez-Delgado, David
IAA authors: 
Martínez-Delgado, David;Román, Javier
Authors: 
Martínez-Delgado, David;Cooper, Andrew P.;Román, Javier;Pillepich, Annalisa;Erkal, Denis;Pearson, Sarah;Moustakas, John;Laporte, Chervin F. P.;Laine, Seppo;Akhlaghi, Mohammad;Lang, Dustin;Makarov, Dmitry;Borlaff, Alejandro S.;Donatiello, Giuseppe;Pearson, William J.;Miró-Carretero, Juan;Cuillandre, Jean-Charles;Domínguez, Helena;Roca-Fàbrega, Santi;Frenk, Carlos S.;Schmidt, Judy;Gómez-Flechoso, María A.;Guzman, Rafael;Libeskind, Noam I.;Dey, Arjun;Weaver, Benjamin A.;Schlegel, David;Myers, Adam D.;Valdes, Frank G.
Journal: 
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Publication type: 
Article
Volume: 
671
Pages: 
A141
Abstract: 
Context. Mergers and tidal interactions between massive galaxies and their dwarf satellites are a fundamental prediction of the Lambda-cold dark matter cosmology. These events are thought to provide important observational diagnostics of non-linear structure formation. Stellar streams in the Milky Way and Andromeda are spectacular evidence for ongoing satellite disruption. However, constructing a statistically meaningful sample of tidal streams beyond the Local Group has proven a daunting observational challenge, and the full potential for deepening our understanding of galaxy assembly using stellar streams has yet to be realised. <BR /> Aims: Here we introduce the Stellar Stream Legacy Survey, a systematic imaging survey of tidal features associated with dwarf galaxy accretion around a sample of ∼3100 nearby galaxies within z ∼ 0.02, including about 940 Milky Way analogues. <BR /> Methods: Our survey exploits public deep imaging data from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, which reach surface brightness as faint as ∼29 mag arcsec<SUP>−2</SUP> in the r band. As a proof of concept of our survey, we report the detection and broad-band photometry of 24 new stellar streams in the local Universe. <BR /> Results: We discuss how these observations can yield new constraints on galaxy formation theory through comparison to mock observations from cosmological galaxy simulations. These tests will probe the present-day mass assembly rate of galaxies, the stellar populations and orbits of satellites, the growth of stellar halos, and the resilience of stellar disks to satellite bombardment.
Database: 
ADS
URL: 
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2023A&A...671A.141M/abstract
ADS Bibcode: 
2023A&A...671A.141M
Keywords: 
galaxies: interactions;galaxies: dwarf;galaxies: formation;surveys;Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies