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arXiv 1402.5142astro-ph.GAastro-ph.CO
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仙女座II中两个矮星系合并的残余物

The remnant of a merger between two dwarf galaxies in Andromeda II

N. C. Amorisco, N. W. Evans, G. van de Ven

摘要:

在引力的驱动下,像星系和星系团这样的大质量结构被认为通过较小系统的分层合并和吸积而不断增长。吸积事件的观测证据是由穿过大质量星系(例如银河系或仙女座星系)外晕的相干恒星流提供的。在类似的质量尺度上,在恒星的$10^{11}$太阳质量附近,合并活动的进一步观测证据也是充足的。低质量星系的合并被认为是星系形成的分级过程,但迄今为止还没有发现恒星质量小于$10^9$太阳质量的星系。在这里,我们报告的恒星流的运动学检测在仙女座的卫星星系,矮球状星系仙女座II,它的质量只有$10^7$太阳质量的恒星。流的性质表明,我们正在观察两个矮星系合并的残余。这对残骸的动力学产生了巨大的影响,残骸现在正围绕着它的投影主轴旋转。仙女座II的恒星流说明了星系形成的无标度特征,直到最低的星系质量标度。

英文摘要:

Driven by gravity, massive structures like galaxies and clusters of galaxies are believed to grow continuously through hierarchical merging and accretion of smaller systems. Observational evidence of accretion events is provided by the coherent stellar streams crossing the outer haloes of massive galaxies, such as the Milky Way or Andromeda. At similar mass-scales, around $10^{11}$ solar masses in stars, further observational evidence of merging activity is also ample. Mergers of lower-mass galaxies are expected within the hierarchical process of galaxy formation, but have hitherto not been seen for galaxies with less than about $10^9$ solar masses in stars. Here, we report the kinematic detection of a stellar stream in one of the satellite galaxies of Andromeda, the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Andromeda II, which has a mass of only $10^7$ solar masses in stars. The properties of the stream show that we are observing the remnant of a merger between two dwarf galaxies. This had a dramatic influence on the dynamics of the remnant, which is now rotating around its projected major axis. The stellar stream in Andromeda II illustrates the scale-free character of the formation of galaxies, down to the lowest galactic mass scales.

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