Kinematic Evidence for Halo Substructure in Spiral Galaxies

Abstract

We present the results of a kinematic study of planetary nebulae in the extreme outskirts of two spiral galaxies, M83 (NGC 5236) and M94 (NGC 4736). We find that in the inner regions of the galaxies, the vertical velocity dispersion (sigma_z) falls off exponentially with the light, as expected for a constant mass-to-light ratio, constant thickness disk. However, starting at four optical scale lengths, sigma_z asymptotes out at roughly 20 km/s. Our analysis finds evidence for significant flaring in the outer regions as well, especially in M94. These observations are in excellent agreement with predictions derived from models of disk heating by halo substructure, and demonstrate how kinematic surveys in the outer disks of spirals can be used to test hierarchical models of galaxy formation.

4 pages, 2 figures, published in ApJ Letters (uses emulateapj.cls); added 1 reference and corrected Fig 2

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Cited by in corpus (14)

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• Planetary Nebulae in Face-On Spiral Galaxies. III. Planetary Nebula Kinematics and Disk Mass
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• Young Stars at the Edge: Stellar Clustering in the Outer Regions of the M33 Disk
• Dynamical measurement of the stellar surface density of face-on galaxies
• On the Size Evolution of a Galactic Disk in Hierarchical Merging of Cold Dark Matter Halos