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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/29254
Title: | Three-dimensional motions in the Sculptor dwarf galaxy as a glimpse of a new era | Authors: | MASSARI, DAVIDE Breddels, M. A. Helmi, A. Posti, L. Brown, A. G. A. Tolstoy, E. |
Issue Date: | 2018 | Journal: | NATURE ASTRONOMY | Number: | 2 | First Page: | 156 | Abstract: | The three-dimensional motions of stars in small galaxies beyond our own are minute, yet they are crucial for understanding the nature of gravity and dark matter<SUP>1,2</SUP>. Even for the dwarf galaxy Sculptor—one of the best-studied systems, which is inferred to be strongly dark matter dominated<SUP>3,4</SUP>—there are conflicting reports<SUP>5-7</SUP> on its mean motion around the Milky Way, and the three-dimensional internal motions of its stars have never been measured. Here, we present precise proper motions of Sculptor's stars based on data from the Gaia mission<SUP>8</SUP> and Hubble Space Telescope. Our measurements show that Sculptor moves around the Milky Way on a high-inclination elongated orbit that takes it much further out than previously thought. For Sculptor's internal velocity dispersions, we find σ<SUB>R</SUB> = 11.5 ± 4.3 km s<SUP>-1</SUP> and σ<SUB>T</SUB> = 8.5 ± 3.2 km s<SUP>-1</SUP> along the projected radial and tangential directions. Thus, the stars in our sample move preferentially on radial orbits as quantified by the anisotropy parameter, which we find to be β <mml:mstyle fontfamily="Whitney Semibold"> 0.8 6<SUB>-0.83</SUB><SUP>+0.12</SUP></mml:mstyle> at a location beyond the core radius. Taken at face value, this high radial anisotropy requires abandoning conventional models<SUP>9</SUP> for Sculptor's mass distribution. Our sample is dominated by metal-rich stars and for these we find <mml:mstyle fontfamily="Whitney semibold">β<SUP>M R</SUP> 0.9 5<SUB>-0.27</SUB><SUP>+0.04</SUP></mml:mstyle>—a value consistent with multi-component spherical models where Sculptor is embedded in a cuspy dark halo<SUP>10</SUP>, as might be expected for cold dark matter. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/29254 | URL: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-017-0322-y | ISSN: | 2397-3366 | DOI: | 10.1038/s41550-017-0322-y | Bibcode ADS: | 2018NatAs...2..156M | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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1711.08945.pdf | preprint | 1.48 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Nat. Astr. main 2_156.pdf | [Administrators only] | 4.98 MB | Adobe PDF |
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