On the Stability of Satellite Planes I: Effects of Mass, Velocity, Halo Shape and Alignment

Abstract

The recently discovered vast thin plane of dwarf satellites orbiting the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) adds to the mystery of the small scale distribution of the Local Group's galaxy population. Such well defined planar structures are apparently rare occurrences in cold dark matter cosmological simulations, and we lack a coherent explanation of their formation and existence. In this paper, we explore the long-term survivability of thin planes of dwarfs in galactic halos, focusing, in particular, on systems mimicking the observed Andromeda distribution. The key results show that, in general, planes of dwarf galaxies are fragile, sensitive to the shape of the dark matter halo and other perturbing effects. In fact, long lived planes of satellites only exist in polar orbits in spherical dark matter halos, presenting a challenge to the observed Andromeda plane which is significantly tilted with respect to the optical disk. Our conclusion is that, in standard cosmological models, planes of satellites are generally short lived, and hence we must be located at a relatively special time in the evolution of the Andromeda Plane, lucky enough to see its coherent pattern.

Accepted for publication on MNRAS. 12 pages, 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (18)

• Planes of satellites around Milky Way/M31-mass galaxies in the FIRE simulations and comparisons with the Local Group
• The Hubble Space Telescope Survey of M31 Satellite Galaxies I. RR Lyrae-based Distances and Refined 3D Geometric Structure
• HST Proper Motions of NGC 147 and NGC 185: Orbital Histories and Test of Dynamically Coherent Andromeda Satellite Plane
• Evolution of galactic planes of satellites in the EAGLE simulation
• Two major accretion epochs in M31 from two distinct populations of globular clusters
• On the Co-Orbitation of Satellite Galaxies Along the Great Plane of Andromeda: NGC 147, NGC 185, and Expectations from Cosmological Simulations
• Do halos that form early, have high concentration, are part of a pair, or contain a central galaxy potential host more pronounced planes of satellite galaxies?
• An updated detailed characterization of planes of satellites in the MW and M31
• A stream come true: Connecting tidal tails, shells, streams, and planes with galaxy kinematics and formation history
• Planes of satellites around simulated disc galaxies: I.- Finding high-quality planar configurations from positional information and their comparison to MW/M31 data
• Stability of Satellite Planes in M31 II: Effects of the Dark Subhalo Population
• The imprint of galaxy mergers on satellite planes in a cosmological context
• Is the vast polar structure of dwarf galaxies a serious problem for lambda cold dark matter?
• The shapes and alignments of the satellites of the Milky Way and Andromeda
• The spatial distribution of satellites in galaxy clusters
• Planes of satellites around simulated disk galaxies II: Time-persistent planes of kinematically-coherent satellites in $\Lambda$CDM
• Living with Neighbors. IV. Dissecting the Spin$-$Orbit Alignment of Dark Matter Halos: Interacting Neighbors and the Local Large-scale Structure
• Dwarf Galaxies in the MATLAS Survey: The satellite system of NGC474 under scrutiny with MUSE