Open Group Seminar: Scott Carlsten (Princeton University)

3:30–4:30 pm ERC 545

Host: Alex Drlica-Wagner

Scott Carlsten (Princeton University) "Dwarf Satellite Systems beyond the Milky Way with the ELVES Survey"

Dwarf satellite galaxies are important windows into many astrophysical processes, including dark matter, stellar feedback, and the effects of environment. For decades, the satellites in the Local Group have been the main benchmark for models of small-scale structure. However, it is important to characterize a statistical sample of satellite systems around other Milky Way-like galaxies. To address this, we developed the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) Survey to characterize the dwarf satellites of 28 Milky Way-like hosts in the Local Volume down to the faintest `classical satellites’. While we find significant host-to-host scatter in satellite properties, the Milky Way’s system appears quite typical along numerous axes, including satellite abundance, luminosity function, and quenched fraction. With its increased statistics, the ELVES Survey has yielded insights into the stellar-to-halo-mass relation for dwarf satellites and the physics of satellite quenching.

Event Type

Seminars

Apr 25