On the dynamics of the satellite galaxies in NGC 5044

Abstract

The NGC 5044 galaxy group is dominated by a luminous elliptical galaxy which is surrounded by ~160 dwarf satellites. The projected number density profile of this dwarf population deviates within ~1/3 of the virial radius from a projected NFW-profile, which is assumed to approximate the underlying total matter distribution. By means of a semi-analytic model we demonstrate that the interplay between gravitation, dynamical friction and tidal mass loss and destruction can explain the observed number density profile. We use only two parameters in our models: the total to stellar mass fraction of the satellite halos and the disruption efficiency. The disruption efficiency is expressed by a minimum radius. If the tidal radius of the galaxy (halo) falls below this radius the galaxies is assumed to become unobservable. The preferred parameters are an initial total to stellar mass fraction of ~20 and a disruption radius of 4 kpc. In that model about 20% of all the satellites are totally disrupted on their orbits within the group environment. Dynamical friction is less important in shaping the inner slope of the number density profile since the reduction in mass by tidal forces lowers the impact of the friction term. The main destruction mechanism is tide. In the preferred model the total B-band luminosity of all the disrupted galaxies is about twice the observed luminosity of the central elliptical galaxy, indicating that a significant fraction of stars are scattered into the intragroup medium.(Abridged)

Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 7 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX (uses mn2e.cls)

References in corpus (46)

• A Universal Density Profile from Hierarchical Clustering
• Populating a cluster of galaxies - I. Results at z=0
• Statistical Properties of X-ray Clusters: Analytic and Numerical Comparisons
• The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances
• Concentrations of Dark Halos from their Assembly Histories
• Response of dark matter halos to condensation of baryons: cosmological simulations and improved adiabatic contraction model
• Reionization and the abundance of galactic satellites
• The tumultuous lives of galactic dwarfs and the missing satellites problem
• The Average Mass-to-Light Profile of Galaxy Clusters
• K-band Properties of Galaxy Clusters and Groups: Brightest Cluster Galaxies and Intracluster Light
• The Evolution of X-ray Clusters in Low Density Universes
• K-band Properties of Galaxy Clusters and Groups: Luminosity Function, Radial Distribution and Halo Occupation Number
• The Physics of Galaxy Clustering I: A Model for Subhalo Populations
• Velocity and spatial biases in CDM subhalo distributions
• The nature and space density of fossil groups of galaxies
• Hierarchical galaxy formation and substructure in the Galaxy's stellar halo
• Density Profiles of Cold Dark Matter Substructure: Implications for the Missing Satellites Problem
• The Radial Distribution of Galaxies in LCDM clusters
• The Dynamics of Sinking Satellites Around Disk Galaxies: A Poor Man's Alternative to High-Resolution Numerical Simulations
• Tidal Shocking by Extended Mass Distributions
• Tidal Effects in Clusters of Galaxies
• Dynamical friction and the evolution of satellites in virialized halos: the theory of linear response
• The Rise and Fall of Satellites in Galaxy Clusters
• The Spatial and Kinematic Distributions of Cluster Galaxies in a LCDM Universe -- Comparison with Observations
• Observing the dark matter density profile of isolated galaxies
• Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars: A diffuse star cloud or tidal debris around the Milky Way in Triangulum-Andromeda
• Galaxies and subhaloes in LCDM galaxy clusters
• The Evolution of Substructure in Galaxy, Group and Cluster Haloes I: Basic Dynamics
• The Tilt of the Fundamental Plane: Three-quarters Structural Nonhomology, One-quarter Stellar Population
• The Inner Structure of LCDM Halos II: Halo Mass Profiles and LSB Rotation Curves
• Simulating Galaxy Clusters - III: Properties of the Intracluster Stars
• Formation and evolution of dwarf elliptical galaxies I. Structural and kinematical properties
• The mass profile of galaxy clusters out to ~2 r200
• Detection of the Main Sequence Turn-off of a Newly Discovered Milky Way Halo Structure in the Triangulum-Andromeda Region
• The Abundance and Radial Distribution of Satellite Galaxies
• Massive black hole remnants of the first stars in galactic haloes
• The observability of gamma-rays from neutralino annihilations in Milky Way substructure
• Dwarf Dark Matter Halos
• Intracluster Stars and the Chemical Enrichment of the Intracluster Medium
• Velocity dispersion profile in dark matter halos
• Tramp Novae Between Galaxies in the Fornax Cluster: Tracers of Intracluster Light
• The low-luminosity galaxy population in the NGC 5044 Group
• Formation and Evolution of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies
• The galaxy population of intermediate-redshift clusters
• The Dynamical Evolution of Substructure
• Absence of Dwarf Galaxies at High Redshifts: Evidence from a Galaxy Group

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Shredded Galaxies as the Source of Diffuse Intrahalo Light On Varying Scales
• Globular clusters, satellite galaxies and stellar haloes from early dark matter peaks
• Intracluster light and the extended stellar envelopes of cD galaxies: An analytical description
• The ongoing assembly of a central cluster galaxy: Phase-space substructures in the halo of M87
• VEGAS: A VST Early-type GAlaxy Survey. II. Photometric study of giant ellipticals and their stellar halos
• A tale of two tails and an off-centered envelope: diffuse light around the cD galaxy NGC 3311 in the Hydra I cluster
• From galactic nuclei to the halo outskirts: tracing supermassive black holes across cosmic history and environments
• Velocity distributions in clusters of galaxies
• Tidal Disruption of Satellite Galaxies in a Semi-Analytic Model of Galaxy Formation
• The unmixed kinematics and origins of diffuse stellar light in the core of the Hydra I cluster (Abell 1060)
• A Cosmic Coincidence: The Power-Law Galaxy Correlation Function
• Constraining Satellite Galaxy Stellar Mass Loss and Predicting Intrahalo Light I: Framework and Results at Low Redshift
• The effect of dwarf galaxies disruption in semi-analytic models
• Sloshing cold fronts in galaxy groups and their perturbing disk galaxies: an X-ray, Optical and Radio Case Study
• The concentration-velocity dispersion relation in galaxy groups
• The anatomy of the NGC 5044 group -- II. Stellar populations and star-formation histories
• Evolutionary properties of the low-luminosity galaxy population in the NGC5044 Group
• Astrophysics in 2005
• The PARADIGM project II: The lifetimes and quenching of satellites in Milky Way-mass haloes