scholarly journals The tidal tails of Milky Way globular clusters

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. L2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés E. Piatti ◽  
Julio A. Carballo-Bello
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Structural Parameter ◽  
Advanced Stage ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
Tidal Disruption ◽  
Density Profiles ◽  
Parameter Spaces ◽  
Tidal Tails ◽  
Stellar Density

We report on the search for overall kinematical or structural conditions that have allowed some Milky Way globular clusters to develop tidal tails. For this purpose, we built a comprehensive catalog of globular clusters with studies focused on their outermost regions and we classify the globular clusters in three categories: those with observed tidal tails, those with extra-tidal features that are different from tidal tails, and those without any signatures of extended stellar density profiles. When exploring different kinematical and structural parameter spaces, we found that globular clusters behave similarly, irrespective of the presence of tidal tails or any other kind of extra-tidal feature, or the absence thereof. In general, globular clusters whose orbits are relatively more eccentric and very inclined, with respect to the Milky Way plane, have undergone a larger amount of mass loss by tidal disruption. The latter has also accelerated the internal dynamics toward a comparatively more advanced stage of evolution. These outcomes show that it is not straightforward to find any particular set of parameter space and dynamical conditions that can definitely predict tidal tails along globular clusters in the Milky Way.

scholarly journals The Effect of Dwarf Galaxies on the Tidal Tails of Globular Clusters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada El-Falou ◽  
Jeremy J Webb
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Dwarf Galaxies ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Galaxy Model ◽  
Galactic Globular Clusters ◽  
Tidal Tails

Abstract The tidal tails of globular clusters have been shown to be sensitive to the external tidal field. We investigate how Galactic globular clusters with observed tails are affected by satellite dwarf galaxies by simulating tails in galaxy models with and without dwarf galaxies. The simulations indicate that tidal tails can be subdivided into into three categories based on how they are affected by dwarf galaxies: 1) dwarf galaxies perturb the progenitor cluster’s orbit (NGC 4590, Pal 1, Pal 5), 2) dwarf galaxies perturb the progenitor cluster’s orbit and individual tail stars (NGC 362, NGC 1851, NGC 4147, NGC 5466, NGC 7492, Pal 14, Pal 15), and 3) dwarf galaxies negligibly affect tidal tails (NGC 288, NGC 5139, NGC 5904, Eridanus). Perturbations to a cluster’s orbit occur when dwarf galaxies pass within its orbit, altering the size and shape of the orbital and tail path. Direct interactions between one or more dwarf galaxies and tail stars lead to kinks and spurs, however we find that features are more difficult to observe in projection. We further find that the tails of Pal 5 are shorter in the galaxy model with dwarf galaxies as it is closer to apocentre, which results in the tails being compressed. Additional simulations reveal that differences between tidal tails in the two galaxy models are primarily due to the Large Magellanic Cloud. Understanding how dwarf galaxies affect tidal tails allows for tails to be used to map the distribution of matter in dwarf galaxies and the Milky Way.

scholarly journals Signatures of tidal disruption in the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6981 (M72)

2021 ◽  
Vol 646 ◽  
pp. A176
Author(s):  
Andrés E. Piatti ◽  
Martín F. Mestre ◽  
Julio A. Carballo-Bello ◽  
Daniel D. Carpintero ◽  
Camila Navarrete ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Tidal Disruption ◽  
Density Maps ◽  
Magnitude Diagram ◽  
Stellar Density

We study the outer regions of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6981 based on publicly available BV photometry and new Dark Energy Camera (DECam) observations, both of which reach nearly 4 mag below the cluster main sequence (MS) turnoff. While the BV data sets reveal the present of extra-tidal features around the cluster, the much larger field of view of the DECam observations allowed us to identify some other tidal features, which extend from the cluster toward the opposite direction to the Milky Way center. Such structural features of clusters arise from stellar density maps built using MS stars, following a cleaning of the cluster color-magnitude diagram to remove the contamination of field stars. We also performed N-body simulations in order to help us to understand the spatial distribution of the extra-tidal debris. The outcomes reveal the presence of long trailing and leading tails that are mostly parallel to the direction of the cluster velocity vector. We find that the cluster loses most of its mass by tidal disruption during its perigalactic passages, each of which lasted nearly 20 Myr. Hence, a decrease in the density of escaping stars near the cluster is expected from our N-body simulations, which, in turn, means that stronger extra-tidal features could be found by exploring much larger areas around NGC 6891.

scholarly journals Pal 13: its moderately extended low-density halo and its accretion history

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés E. Piatti ◽  
José G. Fernández-Trincado
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Orbital Motion ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Recent Estimate ◽  
Magnitude Diagram ◽  
Density Map ◽  
Stellar Density

We present results based on Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) DR8 astrometric and photometric data sets of the Milky Way globular cluster Pal 13. Because of its relatively small size and mass, there is not yet a general consensus on the existence of extra-tidal structures surrounding it. While some previous results suggest the absence of such features, others show that the cluster is under the effects of tidal stripping. We have built a cluster stellar density map from DECaLS g, r magnitudes – previously corrected for interstellar reddening – of stars placed along the cluster main sequence in the color-magnitude diagram. The resulting density map shows nearly smooth contours around Pal 13 out to approximately 1.6 t the most recent estimate of its Jacobi radius, which was derived whilst taking into account the variation along its orbital motion. This outcome favors the presence of stars escaping the cluster, a phenomenon frequently seen in globular clusters that have crossed the Milky Way disk a comparably large number of times. Particularly, the orbital high eccentricity and large inclination angle of this accreted globular cluster could have been responsible for the relatively large amount of lost cluster mass.

Extra-tidal features using Gaia DR2

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 420-421
Author(s):  
Julio A. Carballo-Bello
Keyword(s):  
Mass Distribution ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Cluster Center ◽  
Proper Motions ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Tidal Tails ◽  
Gaia Dr2

AbstractIn recent years, we have gathered enough evidence showing that most of the Galactic globular clusters extend well beyond their King tidal radii and fill their Jacobi radii in the form of “extended stellar haloes”. In some cases, because of the interaction with the Milky Way, stars are able to exceed the Jacobi radius, generating tidal tails which may be used to trace the mass distribution in the Galaxy. In this work, we use the precious information provided by the space mission Gaia (photometry, parallaxes and proper motions) to analyze NGC 362 in the search for member stars in its surroundings. Our preliminar results suggest that it is possible to identify member stars and tidal features up to distances of a few degrees from the globular cluster center.

scholarly journals Enhancement of the tidal disruption event rate in galaxies with a nuclear star cluster: from dwarfs to ellipticals

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (2) ◽  
pp. 2276-2285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Pfister ◽  
Marta Volonteri ◽  
Jane Lixin Dai ◽  
Monica Colpi
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Event Rate ◽  
Star Cluster ◽  
Scaling Relations ◽  
Tidal Disruption ◽  
Massive Black Holes ◽  
First Time ◽  
Stellar Density ◽  
Disruption Event

ABSTRACT We compute the tidal disruption event (TDE) rate around local massive black holes (MBHs) with masses as low as $2.5\times 10^4\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, thus probing the dwarf regime for the first time. We select a sample of 37 galaxies for which we have the surface stellar density profile, a dynamical estimate of the mass of the MBH, and 6 of which, including our Milky Way, have a resolved nuclear star cluster (NSC). For the Milky Way, we find a total TDE rate of ${\sim}10^{-4}\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ when taking the NSC in account, and ${\sim}10^{-7} \, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ otherwise. TDEs are mainly sourced from the NSC for light (${\lt}3\times 10^{10}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$) galaxies, with a rate of few $10^{-5}\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$, and an enhancement of up to two orders of magnitude compared to non-nucleated galaxies. We create a mock population of galaxies using different sets of scaling relations to explore trends with galaxy mass, taking into account the nucleated fraction of galaxies. Overall, we find a rate of few $10^{-5}\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ which drops when galaxies are more massive than $10^{11}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ and contain MBHs swallowing stars whole and resulting in no observable TDE.

scholarly journals The elusive tidal tails of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 7099

2020 ◽  
Vol 643 ◽  
pp. A15
Author(s):  
Andrés E. Piatti ◽  
Julio A. Carballo-Bello ◽  
Marcelo D. Mora ◽  
Carolina Cenzano ◽  
Camila Navarrete ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Stellar Structure ◽  
Cluster Center ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Field Star ◽  
Density Maps ◽  
Star Density ◽  
Tidal Tails ◽  
Stellar Density

We present results on the extra-tidal features of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 7099, using deep gr photometry obtained with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam). We reached nearly 6 mag below the cluster’s main sequence (MS) turnoff, so that we dealt with the most suitable candidates to trace any stellar structure located beyond the cluster tidal radius. From star-by-star reddening corrected color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), we defined four adjacent strips along the MS, for which we built the respective stellar density maps, once the contamination by field stars was properly removed. The resulting, cleaned, field star stellar density maps show a short tidal tail and some scattered debris. Such extra-tidal features are hardly detected when much shallower Gaia DR2 data sets are used and the same CMD field star cleaning procedure is applied. Indeed, by using 2.5 mag below the MS turnoff of the cluster as the faintest limit (G <  20.5 mag), cluster members turned out to be distributed within the cluster’s tidal radius, and some hints for field star density variations are found across a circle of radius 3.5° centered on the cluster and with similar CMD features as cluster stars. The proper motion distribution of these stars is distinguishable from that of the cluster, with some superposition, which resembles that of stars located beyond 3.5° from the cluster center.

The Spatial Structure of the Galactic outer disk with LAMOST DR3 K giant stars

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S334) ◽  
pp. 378-380
Author(s):  
Haifeng Wang ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Licai Deng
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Structure ◽  
Density Profile ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Density Profiles ◽  
Giant Stars ◽  
Outer Disk ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Best Fit ◽  
Stellar Density

AbstractThe spatial structure of the Milky Way outer disk is characterized with ~ 70000 LAMOST DR3 K giants after carefully correction of their selection effects. By slicing the data into various Galactocentric radius bins, we are able to fit the vertical stellar density profile with a models composed of two isothermal-sheet disks and an oblate power-law halo. We find that although the thin disk is significantly flared, the radial surface density profile can extend to as far as 19 kpc. Beyond 12 kpc, only one thicker disk, rather than two disk components, are found in the samples. Moreover, the residual of the density profiles after subtracting the best fit models show different oscillation patterns in almost all range of detecting radius.

scholarly journals The eye of Gaia on globular clusters structure: tidal tails

2020 ◽  
Vol 495 (2) ◽  
pp. 2222-2233 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Sollima
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Stellar Population ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Proper Motions ◽  
Mixture Modelling ◽  
Background Density ◽  
Data Release ◽  
Observational Estimate ◽  
Tidal Tails

ABSTRACT I analyse the projected density distribution of member stars over a wide area surrounding 18 Galactic globular clusters using the photometric and astrometric information provided by the second data release of the Gaia mission. A 5D mixture modelling technique has been employed to optimally isolate the signal of the cluster stellar population from the contamination of the Galactic field, taking advantage of its different distribution in the space formed by colours, magnitudes, parallaxes, and proper motions. In 7 clusters I detect collimated overdensities at a &gt;3σ level above the background density extending well beyond the cluster tidal radius, consistent with the distortion expected as a result of the tidal interaction with the Milky Way potential. In five of these clusters (NGC 288, NGC 2298, NGC 5139, NGC 6341, and NGC 7099) spectacular tidal tails extend up to the border of the analysed field of view at 5 deg from the centre. At large distances from the cluster centre, the orientation of the detected overdensities appears to be systematically aligned with the cluster orbital path, in agreement with the predictions of N-body simulations. The fraction of stars contained in the tidal tails of these clusters is also used to determine the first observational estimate of their present-day destruction rates.

scholarly journals Tracing the anemic stellar halo of M 101

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. A8 ◽  
Author(s):  
In Sung Jang ◽  
Roelof S. de Jong ◽  
Benne W. Holwerda ◽  
Antonela Monachesi ◽  
Eric F. Bell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Density Profiles ◽  
Stellar Halo ◽  
Red Giant

Models of galaxy formation in a cosmological context predict that massive disk galaxies should have structured extended stellar halos. Recent studies in integrated light, however, report that a few galaxies, including the nearby disk galaxy M 101, have no measurable stellar halos to the detection limit. We aim to quantify the stellar content and structure of M 101’s outskirts by resolving its stars. We present the photometry of its stars based on deep F606W and F814W images taken with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as part of the GHOSTS survey. The HST fields are placed along the east and west sides of M 101 out to galactocentric distance (R) of ∼70 kpc. The constructed color-magnitude diagrams of stars reach down to two magnitudes below the tip of the red giant branch. We derived radial number density profiles of the bright red giant branch (RGB) stars. The mean color of the RGB stars at R ∼ 40−60 kpc is similar to those of metal-poor globular clusters in the Milky Way. We also derived radial surface brightness profiles using the public image data provided by the Dragonfly team. Both the radial number density and surface brightness profiles were converted to radial mass density profiles and combined. We find that the mass density profiles show a weak upturn at the very outer region, where surface brightness is as faint as μg ≈ 33 mag arcsec−2. An exponential disk + power-law halo model on the mass density profiles finds the total stellar halo mass of Mhalo = 8.2−2.2+3.5 × 107 M⊙. The total stellar halo mass does not exceed Mhalo = 3.2 × 108 M⊙ when strongly truncated disk models are considered. In combining the halo mass with the total stellar mass of M 101, we obtain the stellar halo mass fraction of Mhalo/Mgal = 0.20−0.08+0.10% with an upper limit of 0.78%. We compare the halo properties of M 101 with those of six GHOSTS survey galaxies as well as the Milky Way and M 31 and find that M 101 has an anemic stellar halo similar to the Milky Way.

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