Return to search

Crater 2: An Extremely Cold Dark Matter Halo

We present results from MMT/Hectochelle spectroscopy of 390 red giant candidate stars along the line of sight to the recently discovered Galactic satellite Crater 2. Modeling the joint distribution of stellar positions, velocities, and metallicities as a mixture of Crater 2 and Galactic foreground populations, we identify similar to 62 members of Crater 2, for which we resolve a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of sigma(nu los) = 2.7(-0.3)(+0.3) km s(-1) and a. mean velocity of <nu(los)> = 87.5(-0.4)(+0.4) km s(-1) (solar rest frame). We also resolve a metallicity dispersion of sigma([Fe/H]) = 0.22(-0.03)(+0.04) dex and a mean of <[Fe/H]> = 1.98(-0.1)(+0.1) dex that is 0.28 +/- 0.14 dex poorer than estimated from photometry. Despite Crater 2's relatively large size (projected halflight radius R-h similar to 1 kpc) and intermediate luminosity (M-V similar to -8), its velocity dispersion is the coldest that has been resolved for any dwarf galaxy. These properties make Crater 2 the most extreme low-density outlier in dynamical as well as structural scaling relations among the Milky Way's dwarf spheroidals. Even so, under assumptions of dynamical equilibrium and negligible contamination by unresolved binary stars, the observed velocity distribution implies a gravitationally dominant dark matter halo, with a dynamical mass of. 4.4(-0.9)(+1.2) x 10(6) M-circle dot and a mass-to-light ratio of 53(-11)(+15) M-circle dot/L-V,L-circle dot enclosed within a radius of similar to 1 kpc, where the equivalent circular velocity is 4.3(-0.5)(+0.5) km s(-1).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/623952
Date10 April 2017
CreatorsCaldwell, Nelson, Walker, Matthew G., Mateo, Mario, Olszewski, Edward W., Koposov, Sergey, Belokurov, Vasily, Torrealba, Gabriel, Geringer-Sameth, Alex, Johnson, Christian I.
ContributorsUniv Arizona, Steward Observ
PublisherIOP PUBLISHING LTD
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle
Rights© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Relationhttp://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/839/i=1/a=20?key=crossref.f0fc404d3f662635e80c1a564bdf1f65

Page generated in 0.003 seconds