Lopsided Satellite Distributions around Isolated Host Galaxies in a LCDM Universe

Abstract

A recent observational study found that the projected spatial distributions of the satellites of bright, isolated host galaxies tend to be lopsided with respect to the locations of the hosts. Here, we examine the spatial distributions of the satellites of a large number of bright, isolated host galaxies that were obtained from mock redshift surveys of a LCDM simulation. Host galaxies and their satellites were identified using selection criteria that are identical to those used in the observational study, allowing a direct comparison of the results for the simulated and observed systems. To characterize the spatial distribution of the satellites, we adopt two statistics: [1] the pairwise clustering of the satellites and [2] the Mean Resultant Length. In agreement with the observational study, we find a strong tendency for satellites in the simulation to be located on the same side of their host, and the signal is most pronounced for the satellites of blue hosts. These lopsided satellite distributions are not solely attributable to incompleteness of the observed satellite catalog or the presence of objects that have been falsely identified as satellites. In addition, satellites that joined their hosts' halos in the distant past (> 8 Gyr) show a pronounced lopsidedness in their spatial distributions and, therefore, the lopsidedness is not solely attributable to late-time accretion of satellites.

References in corpus (22)

• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Technical Summary
• Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters
• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• Spectroscopic Target Selection in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: The Main Galaxy Sample
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: matter and galaxy clustering
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the stellar mass content of groups and clusters of galaxies
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the galaxy color bimodality
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: A tale of two elements -- chemical evolution of magnesium and europium
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: radio haloes and magnetic fields
• Triaxial Modeling of Halo Density Profiles with High-resolution N-body Simulations
• The Broad-band Optical Properties of Galaxies with Redshifts 0.0 < z < 0.2
• A photometricity and extinction monitor at the Apache Point Observatory
• Galaxy formation in the Planck Cosmology - I. Matching the observed evolution of star formation rates, colours and stellar masses
• The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in SDSS Commissioning Data
• The Three-Dimensional Structure of the M31 Satellite System; Strong Evidence for an Inhomogeneous Distribution of Satellites
• Anisotropic Locations of Satellite Galaxies: Clues to the Orientations of Galaxies within their Dark Matter Halos
• The lopsided distribution of satellite galaxies
• The Lopsidedness of Satellite Galaxy Systems in $\Lambda$CDM simulations
• Lopsided Satellite Distributions around Isolated Host Galaxies
• The lopsided distribution of satellites of isolated central galaxies
• The Origin of Lopsided Satellite Galaxy Distribution in Galaxy Pairs
• Modelling the dynamical friction timescale of sinking satellite

Cited by in corpus (6)

• New dwarf galaxy candidates in the sphere of influence of the Sombrero galaxy
• Lopsided distribution of MATLAS and ELVES dwarf satellite systems around isolated host galaxies
• Andromeda's asymmetric satellite system as a challenge to cold dark matter cosmology
• Subhalos are Anisotropically Distributed and Aligned with the Smooth Matter Distribution of Their Host Halos
• DELVE Milky Way Satellite Galaxy Census I: Satellite Population and Survey Selection Function in DES, DELVE, and Pan-STARRS
• Testing a proposed "planarity" tool for studying satellite systems: On the alleged consistency of Milky Way satellite galaxy planes with $\Lambda$CDM