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arxiv 1211.2638 v1 pith:LDBGIQO4 submitted 2012-11-12 astro-ph.CO astro-ph.GA

A census of orbital properties of the M31 satellites

classification astro-ph.CO astro-ph.GA
keywords orbitalsatellitesinfallsatellitetheyanalysisbeendata
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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We present an analysis of the dynamics of the M31 satellite system. Proper motion data exist for only two of the M31 satellites. We account for this incompleteness in velocity data by a statistical analysis using a combination of the timing argument and phase-space distribution functions. The bulk of the M31 satellites are well fit by these models and we offer a table of orbital properties, including period, eccentricity and semi-major axis. This enables us to search for evidence of group infall based on orbital similarity rather than propinquity on the sky. Our results favour an association between Cass II and NGC 185, as the orbital parameters are in close agreement, but not for NGC 185 and NGC 147, which have often been associated in the past. Other possible satellite groupings include the pair And I and And XVII; the pair And IX and And X; and the triple And V, And XXV and NGC 147. And XXII has been claimed as a satellite of M33; we find that they are not moving independently along the same orbit, but cannot determine whether they are orbiting each other or are unrelated. Two satellites, And XII and And XIV, have high line-of-sight velocities, consistent with very recent infall from the edge of the Local Group. They are not well described by our underlying smooth phase space distribution function, and are reanalysed without priors on their orbital parameters. For And XIV, multiple pericentric passages are possible and improved distance information is needed to draw further conclusions. For And XII, orbits which assume at least one pericentric passage can be ruled out and it must be on its first infall into the M31 system.

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Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. The Merger-Driven Origin of the Vast Extended Stellar Disc Around the Andromeda Galaxy

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    N-body simulation of a major merger shows M31's extended rotating stellar disc as a stretched and warped remnant of the progenitor disc extending beyond 40 kpc.