Galactic Outskirts Research Articles

Determining Stellar Elemental Abundances from DESI Spectra with the Data-driven Payne

Stellar abundances for a large number of stars provide key information for the study of Galactic formation history. Large spectroscopic surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and LAMOST take median-to-low-resolution (R ≲ 5000) spectra in the full optical wavelength range for millions of stars. However, the line-blending effect in these spectra causes great challenges for elemental abundance determination. Here we employ DD-Payne, a data-driven method regularized by differential spectra from stellar physical models, to the DESI early data release spectra for stellar abundance determination. Our implementation delivers 15 labels, including effective temperature T eff, surface gravity logg , microturbulence velocity v mic, and the abundances for 12 individual elements, namely C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Ni. Given a spectral signal-to-noise ratio of 100 per pixel, the internal precisions of the label estimates are about 20 K for T eff, 0.05 dex for logg , and 0.05 dex for most elemental abundances. These results agree with the theoretical limits from the Crámer–Rao bound calculation within a factor of 2. The majority of the accreted halo stars contributed by the Gaia–Enceladus–Sausage are discernible from the disk and in situ halo populations in the resultant [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] and [Al/Fe]–[Fe/H] abundance spaces. We also provide distance and orbital parameters for the sample stars, which spread over a distance out to ∼100 kpc. The DESI sample has a significantly higher fraction of distant (or metal-poor) stars than the other existing spectroscopic surveys, making it a powerful data set for studying the Galactic outskirts. The catalog is publicly available.

Dynamical aspects of Galactic habitability in N-body simulations

Abstract Recent studies of Galactic evolution revealed that the dynamics of the stellar component might be one of the key factors when considering galactic habitability. We run an N-body simulation model of the Milky Way, which we evolve for 10 Gyr, to study the secular evolution of stellar orbits and the resulting galactic habitability-related properties, i.e., the density of the stellar component and close stellar encounters. The results indicate that radial migrations are not negligible, even in a simple axisymmetric model with mild levels of dynamical heating, and that the net outward diffusion of the stellar component can populate galactic outskirts with habitable systems. Habitable environment is also likely even at sub-Solar galactocentric radii, because the rate of close encounters should not significantly degrade habitability. Stars that evolve from non-circular to stable nearly-circular orbits typically migrate outwards, settling down in a broad Solar neighborhood. The region between R ≈ 3 kpc and R ≈ 12 kpc represents the zone of radial mixing, which can blur the boundaries of the Galactic Habitable Zone, as it has been conventionally understood. The present-day stable population of the stars in the Solar neighborhood originates from this radial mixing zone, with most of the stars coming from the inner regions. The Solar system can be considered as a typical Milky Way habitable system because it migrated outwards from the metal-rich inner regions of the Disk and has a circular orbit in the present epoch. We conclude that the boundaries of the Galactic Habitable Zone cannot be sharply confined for a given epoch because of the mixing caused by the stellar migrations and secular evolution of stellar orbits.

Discovery of the Magellanic Stellar Stream Out to 100 kpc

The Magellanic Stream (MS)—an enormous ribbon of gas spanning 140° of the southern sky trailing the Magellanic Clouds—has been exquisitely mapped in the five decades since its discovery. However, despite concerted efforts, no stellar counterpart to the MS has been conclusively identified. This stellar stream would reveal the distance and 6D kinematics of the MS, constraining its formation and the past orbital history of the Clouds. We have been conducting a spectroscopic survey of the most distant and luminous red giant stars in the Galactic outskirts. From this data set, we have discovered a prominent population of 13 stars matching the extreme angular momentum of the Clouds, spanning up to 100° along the MS at distances of 60–120 kpc. Furthermore, these kinematically selected stars lie along an [α/Fe]-deficient track in chemical space from −2.5 < [Fe/H] <− 0.5, consistent with their formation in the Clouds themselves. We identify these stars as high-confidence members of the Magellanic Stellar Stream. Half of these stars are metal-rich and closely follow the gaseous MS, whereas the other half are more scattered and metal-poor. We argue that the metal-rich stream is the recently formed tidal counterpart to the MS, and we speculate that the metal-poor population was thrown out of the SMC outskirts during an earlier interaction between the Clouds. The Magellanic Stellar Stream provides a strong set of constraints—distances, 6D kinematics, and birth locations—that will guide future simulations toward unveiling the detailed history of the Clouds.

MOCCA-Survey Database: extra galactic globular clusters – III. The population of black holes in Milky Way and Andromeda-like galaxies

ABSTRACT This work investigates the black hole (BH) population of globular clusters (GCs) in Milky Way- and Andromeda-like galaxies. We combine the population synthesis code MASinGa and the MOCCA-Survey Database I to infer the properties of GCs harbouring a stellar-mass BH subsystem (BHS), an intermediate-mass BH (IMBH), or neither of those. We find that the typical number of GCs with a BHS, an IMBH, or none become comparable in the galactic outskirts, whilst the inner galactic regions are dominated by GCs without a significant dark component. We retrieve the properties of binary BHs (BBHs) that have either merged in the last 3 Gyr or survived in their parent cluster until present-day. We find that around 80 per cent of the merging BBHs form due to dynamical interactions while the remaining originate from evolution of primordial binaries. The inferred merger rate for both in-cluster and ejected mergers is $1.0\!-\!23\, \, \rm {yr^{-1}\, Gpc^{-3}}$ in the local Universe, depending on the adopted assumptions. We find around 100–240 BBHs survive in GCs until present-day and are mostly concentrated in the inner few kpc of the galaxy. When compared with the field, GCs are at least two times more efficient in the formation of BHs and binaries containing at least one BH. Around 1000–3000 single BHs and 100–200 BBHs are transported into the galactic nucleus from infalling clusters over a time span of 12 Gyr. We estimate that the number of BHs and BBHs lurking in the star cluster to be about 1.4–2.2 × 104 and 700–1100, respectively.

OGHReS: Large-scale filaments in the outer Galaxy

Filaments are a ubiquitous morphological feature of the molecular interstellar medium and are identified as sites of star formation. In recent years, more than 100 large-scale filaments (with a length &gt; 10 pc) have been observed in the inner Milky Way. As they appear linked to Galactic dynamics, studying those structures represents an opportunity to link kiloparsec-scale phenomena to the physics of star formation, which operates on much smaller scales. In this Letter, we use newly acquired Outer Galaxy High Resolution Survey (OGHReS) 12CO(2-1) data to demonstrate that a significant number of large-scale filaments are present in the outer Galaxy as well. The 37 filaments identified appear tightly associated with inter-arm regions. In addition, their masses and linear masses are, on average, one order of magnitude lower than similar-sized molecular filaments located in the inner Galaxy, showing that Milky Way dynamics is able to create very elongated features in spite of the lower gas supply in the Galactic outskirts.

On Asymptotic Behavior of Galactic Rotation Curves in Superfluid Vacuum Theory

The logarithmic superfluid theory of physical vacuum predicts that gravity is an induced phenomenon, which has a multiple-scale structure. At astronomical scales, as the distance from a gravitating center increases, gravitational potential and corresponding spacetime metric are dominated by a Newtonian (Schwarzschild) term, followed by a logarithmic term, finally by linear and quadratic (de Sitter) terms. Correspondingly, rotation curves are predicted to be Keplerian in the inner regions of galaxies, mostly flat in the outer regions, and non-flat in the utmost outer regions. We compare theory's predictions with the furthest rotation curves data points available for a number of galaxies: using a two-parameter fit, we perform a preliminary estimate which disregards the combined effect of gas and stellar disc, but is relatively simple and uses minimal assumptions for galactic luminous matter. The data strongly points out at the existence of a crossover transition from flat to non-flat regimes at galactic outskirts.

Examinations of CO Completeness Based on Three Independent CO Surveys

Abstract We report the global properties recovered by an ongoing CO survey of the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting (MWISP) toward the Galactic outskirts. Our results are also compared to those extracted by a uniform decomposition method from the CfA 1.2 m CO survey and the FCRAO 14 m outer Galaxy survey (OGS). We find that more extended and unseen structures are present in the MWISP data. The total flux across the disk recovered by the MWISP survey is 1.6 times larger than those recovered by the CfA survey and OGS in the case of the same resolution. The discrepancies are scaling with distance. For example, in the outermost Outer Scutum–Centaurus arm, the flux ratios for MWISP to CfA and MWISP to OGS increase up to 43.8 and 7.4, respectively. Nonetheless, the census of molecular gas in our Galaxy is still far from complete by the MWISP, with flux completeness of &lt;58%. The total mass ratios of the tabulated molecular clouds between different surveys are similar to the CO flux ratio. The application of these ratios to the total H2 mass of our Galaxy yields a correction factor of at least 1.4, meaning that the H2 mass of our Galaxy should be at least 40% more massive than previously determined. Including the completeness correction, an even more significant fraction of the matter should be contributed by baryonic matter. The mass spectrum in the outer Galactic plane is better described by a nontruncating power law with γ = −1.83 ± 0.05 and an upper mass of M 0 = (1.3 ± 0.5) × 106 M ☉.

Runaway stars masquerading as star formation in galactic outskirts

ABSTRACT In the outskirts of nearby spiral galaxies, star formation is observed in extremely low gas surface densities. Star formation in these regions, where the interstellar medium is dominated by diffuse atomic hydrogen, is difficult to explain with classic star formation theories. In this letter, we introduce runaway stars as an explanation for this observation. Runaway stars, produced by collisional dynamics in young stellar clusters, can travel kiloparsecs during their main-sequence lifetime. Using galactic-scale hydrodynamic simulations including a treatment of individual stars, we demonstrate that this mechanism enables the ejection of young massive stars into environments where the gas is not dense enough to trigger star formation. This results in the appearance of star formation in regions where it ought to be impossible. We conclude that runaway stars are a contributing, if not dominant, factor to the observations of star formation in the outskirts of spiral galaxies.

Surface Brightness Plateau in S4G Galaxies

Using 3.6-μm data from 2112 galaxies, we show that, contrary to widely held expectations of a continuous steep decline, radial surface brightness profiles of galaxies tend to flatten and form extended plateaus beyond 27–28 magAB/arcsec2. This phenomenon could be explained by the presence of extended stellar populations dominated by low-mass stars in galactic outskirts. The flattening of radial brightness profiles questions the artificial exponential extrapolations of brightness data and the automatic assumption that light always declines considerably faster than mass density, presenting an empirical challenge for the dark matter hypothesis.

Cosmic structures from a mathematical perspective 1: dark matter halo mass density profiles

The shapes of individual self-gravitating structures of an ensemble of identical, collisionless particles have remained elusive for decades. In particular, a reason why mass density profiles like the Navarro–Frenk–White or the Einasto profile are good fits to simulation- and observation-based dark matter halos has not been found. Given the class of three dimensional, spherically symmetric power-law probability density distributions to locate individual particles in the ensemble mentioned above, we derive the constraining equation for the power-law index for the most and least likely joint ensemble configurations. We find that any dark matter halo can be partitioned into three regions: a core, an intermediate part, and an outskirts part up to boundary radius r_mathrm {max}. The power-law index of the core is determined by the mean radius of the particle distribution within the core. The intermediate region becomes isothermal in the limit of infinitely many particles. The slope of the mass density profile far from the centre is determined by the choice of r_mathrm {max} with respect to the outmost halo particle, such that two typical limiting cases arise that explain the r^{-3}-slope for galaxy-cluster outskirts and the r^{-4}-slope for galactic outskirts. Hence, we succeed in deriving the mass density profiles of common fitting functions from a general viewpoint. These results also allow to find a simple explanation for the cusp-core-problem and to separate the halo description from its dynamics.

A new line on the wide binary test of gravity

ABSTRACT The relative velocity distribution of wide binary (WB) stars is sensitive to the law of gravity at the low accelerations typical of galactic outskirts. I consider the feasibility of this wide binary test using the ‘line velocity’ method. This involves considering only the velocity components along the direction within the sky plane orthogonal to the systemic proper motion of each WB. I apply this technique to the WB sample of Hernandez et al., carefully accounting for large-angle effects at one order beyond leading. Based on Monte Carlo trials, the uncertainty in the one-dimensional velocity dispersion is ≈100 m s−1 when using sky-projected relative velocities. Using line velocities reduces this to ≈30 m s−1 because these are much less affected by distance uncertainties. My analysis does not support the Hernandez et al. claim of a clear departure from Newtonian dynamics beyond a radius of ≈10 kAU, partly because I use 2σ outlier rejection to clean their sample first. None the less, the uncertainties are small enough that existing WB data are nearly sufficient to distinguish Newtonian dynamics from Modified Newtonian Dynamics. I estimate that ≈1000 WB systems will be required for this purpose if using only line velocities. In addition to a larger sample, it will also be important to control for systematics like undetected companions and moving groups. This could be done statistically. The contamination can be minimized by considering a narrow theoretically motivated range of parameters and focusing on how different theories predict different proportions of WBs in this region.

Directly testing gravity with Proxima Centauri

ABSTRACT The wide binary orbit of Proxima Centauri around α Centauri A and B differs significantly between Newtonian and Milgromian dynamics (MOND). By combining previous calculations of this effect with mock observations generated using a Monte Carlo procedure, we show that this prediction can be tested using high precision astrometry of Proxima Centauri. This requires ≈10 yr of observations at an individual epoch precision of $0.5 \, \mu\rm as$, within the design specifications of the proposed Theia mission. In general, the required duration should scale as the 2/5 power of the astrometric precision. A long-period planet could produce a MOND-like astrometric signal, but only if it has a particular ratio of mass to separation squared and a sky position close to the line segment connecting Proxima Centauri with α Centauri. Uncertainties in perspective effects should be small enough for this test if the absolute radial velocity of Proxima Centauri can be measured to within ≈10 m s−1, better than the present accuracy of 32 m s−1. We expect the required improvement to become feasible using radial velocity zero-points estimated from larger samples of close binaries, with the Sun providing an anchor. We demonstrate that possible astrometric microlensing of Proxima Centauri is unlikely to affect the results. We also discuss why it should be possible to find sufficiently astrometrically stable reference stars. Adequately, addressing these and other issues would enable a decisive test of gravity in the currently little explored low acceleration regime relevant to the dynamical discrepancies in galactic outskirts.

Spatially resolved star formation and metallicity profiles in post-merger galaxies from MaNGA

ABSTRACT Large galaxy surveys have demonstrated that galaxy–galaxy mergers can dramatically change the morphologies, star formation rates (SFRs), and metallicities of their constituents. However, most statistical studies have been limited to the measurement of global quantities, through large fibres or integrated colours. In this work, we present the first statistically significant study of spatially resolved star formation and metallicity profiles using integral field spectroscopy, using a sample of ∼20 000 spaxels in 36 visually selected post-merger galaxies from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey. By measuring offsets from SFR and metallicity scaling relations on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis, we are able to quantify where in the galaxy these properties are most affected by the interaction. We find that the SFR enhancements are generally centrally peaked, by a factor of 2.5 on average, in agreement with predictions from simulations. However, there is considerable variation in the SFR behaviour in the galactic outskirts, where both enhancement and suppression are seen. The median SFR remains enhanced by 0.1 dex out to at least 1.9 Re. The metallicity is also affected out to these large radii, typically showing a suppression of ∼−0.04 dex.

Global enhancement and structure formation of the magnetic field in spiral galaxies

In this paper we study numerically large-scale magnetic field evolution and its enhancement in gaseous disks of spiral galaxies. We consider a set of models with the various spiral pattern parameters and the initial magnetic field strength with taking into account gas self-gravity and cooling and heating processes. In agreement with previous studies we find out that galactic magnetic field is mostly aligned with gaseous structures, however small-scale gaseous structures (spurs and clumps) are more chaotic than the magnetic field structure. In spiral arms magnetic field often coexists with the gas distribution, in the inter-arm region we see filamentary magnetic field structure. These filaments connect several isolated gaseous clumps. Simulations reveal the presence of the small-scale irregularities of the magnetic field as well as the reversal of magnetic field at the outer edge of the large-scale spurs. We provide evidences that the magnetic field in the spiral arms has a stronger mean-field component, and there is a clear inverse correlation between gas density and plasma-beta parameter, compared to the rest of the disk with a more turbulent component of the field and an absence of correlation between gas density and plasma-beta. We show the mean field growth up to 3−10 μG in the cold gas during several rotation periods (500−800 Myr), whereas ratio between azimuthal and radial field is equal to 4/1. We find an enhancement of random and ordered components of the magnetic field. Mean field strength increases by a factor of 1.5−2.5 for models with various spiral pattern parameters. Random magnetic field component can reach up to 25% from the total strength. By making an analysis of the time-dependent evolution of the radial Poynting flux, we point out that the magnetic field strength is enhanced more strongly at the galactic outskirts which is due to the radial transfer of magnetic energy by the spiral arms pushing the magnetic field outward. Our results also support the presence of sufficient conditions for the development of magnetorotational instability at distances &gt;11 kpc after 300 Myr of evolution.

The Local Volume H i Survey: star formation properties

We built a multi-wavelength dataset for galaxies from the Local Volume HI Survey (LVHIS), which comprises 82 galaxies. We also select a sub-sample of ten large galaxies for investigating properties in the galactic outskirts. The LVHIS sample covers nearly four orders of magnitude in stellar mass and two orders of magnitude in HI mass fraction (fHI). The radial distribution of HI gas with respect to the stellar disc is correlated with fHI but with a large scatter. We confirm the previously found correlations between the total HI mass and star formation rate (SFR), and between HI surface densities and SFR surface densities beyond R25. However, the former correlation becomes much weaker when the average surface densities rather than total mass or rate are considered, and the latter correlation also becomes much weaker when the effect of stellar mass is removed or controlled. Hence the link between SFR and HI is intrinsically weak in these regions, consistent with what was found on kpc scales in the galactic inner regions. We find a strong correlation between the SFR surface density and the stellar mass surface density, which is consistent with the star formation models where the gas is in quasi-equilibrium with the mid-plane pressure. We find no evidence for HI warps to be linked with decreasing star forming efficiencies.

Galaxies Unveiled: Rest-frame UV Clumps at 0.5 &lt; z &lt; 1.5

AbstractStudies of high redshift galaxies reveal compact sub-galactic regions of star formation, known as ‘clumps’. These ‘clumpy’ galaxies are useful for the study of galactic outskirts by enabling us to examine the radial progression of clumps over large time scales. We use the first deep high resolution NUV image from the Hubble Space Telescope covering intermediate redshifts to explore the implications this radial progression may have on galaxy evolution. From the analysis of 209 clumpy galaxies, we find that higher redshift clumps dominate the outer regions of galactic outskirts. This indicates that clumps may be migrating from the outskirts inward toward their galactic centers.

Probing Galactic Outskirts with Dragonfly

AbstractWe describe the challenges inherent to low surface brightness imaging and present some early results from the Dragonfly Nearby Galaxies survey. Wide field, ultra-low surface brightness imaging (μg &gt; 31 mag arcsec−2) of the first eight galaxies in the survey reveals a rich variety in the distribution of stars in the outskirts of luminous nearby galaxies. The mean stellar halo mass fraction is 0.009 ± 0.005 with a peak-to-peak scatter of a factor of &gt; 100. Some galaxies in the sample feature strongly structured halos resembling that of M31, but three of the eight galaxies have halos that are completely undetected in our data. We conclude that spiral galaxies as a class exhibit a rich variety in stellar halo properties, implying that their assembly histories have been highly non-uniform. While the outskirts of some galaxies are dominated by halos with the rich substructures predicted by numerical simulations, in other cases the outermost parts of galaxies are simply the extrapolated smooth starlight from enormous stellar disks that closely trace neutral gas morphology out to around 20 scale lengths.

The SLUGGS Survey: stellar kinematics, kinemetry and trends at large radii in 25 early-type galaxies

Due to longer dynamical timescales, the outskirts of early-type galaxies retain the footprint of their formation and assembly. Under the popular two-phase galaxy formation scenario, an initial in-situ phase of star formation is followed by minor merging and accretion of ex-situ stars leading to the expectation of observable transitions in the kinematics and stellar populations on large scales. However, observing the faint galactic outskirts is challenging, often leaving the transition unexplored. The large scale, spatially-resolved stellar kinematic data from the SAGES Legacy Unifying Galaxies and GlobularS (SLUGGS) survey are ideal for detecting kinematic transitions. We present kinematic maps out to 2.6 effective radii on average, kinemetry profiles, measurement of kinematic twists and misalignments, and the average outer intrinsic shape of 25 SLUGGS galaxies. We find good overall agreement in the kinematic maps and kinemetry radial profiles with literature. We are able to confirm significant radial modulations in rotational versus pressure support of galaxies with radius so that the central and outer rotational properties may be quite different. We also test the suggestion that galaxies may be more triaxial in their outskirts and find that while fast rotating galaxies were already shown to be axisymmetric in their inner regions, we are unable to rule out triaxiality in their outskirts. We compare our derived outer kinematic information to model predictions from a two-phase galaxy formation scenario. We find that the theoretical range of local outer angular momentum agrees well with our observations, but that radial modulations are much smaller than predicted.

Galactic Spiral Pattern beyond the Optical Size Induced by the Triaxial Dark Halo

Abstract We suggest a possible mechanism for the formation of non-tidal gaseous structures in galactic outskirts. According to recent observations, extended spiral structures are detected beyond the optical radii R opt in numerous disk galaxies. Such features can be clearly seen in deep HI and UV images (e.g., NGC 3198, NGC 3359, NGC 2841, NGC 3198). We argue, based on our gas-dynamical simulations, that such outer spirals could form as a result of the interaction of the galactic disk with the triaxial host dark matter halo.

Evidence for mature bulges and an inside-out quenching phase 3 billion years after the Big Bang

Most present-day galaxies with stellar masses ≥10(11) solar masses show no ongoing star formation and are dense spheroids. Ten billion years ago, similarly massive galaxies were typically forming stars at rates of hundreds solar masses per year. It is debated how star formation ceased, on which time scales, and how this "quenching" relates to the emergence of dense spheroids. We measured stellar mass and star-formation rate surface density distributions in star-forming galaxies at redshift 2.2 with ~1-kiloparsec resolution. We find that, in the most massive galaxies, star formation is quenched from the inside out, on time scales less than 1 billion years in the inner regions, up to a few billion years in the outer disks. These galaxies sustain high star-formation activity at large radii, while hosting fully grown and already quenched bulges in their cores.