Exploring the nature of dark matter with the extreme galaxy AGC 114905

Mancera Piña, Pavel E.; Golini, Giulia; Trujillo, Ignacio; Montes, Mireia
Referencia bibliográfica

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Fecha de publicación:
9
2024
Número de autores
4
Número de autores del IAC
3
Número de citas
16
Número de citas referidas
6
Descripción
AGC 114905 is a dwarf gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxy seemingly in tension with the cold dark matter (CDM) model. Specifically, the galaxy appears to have an extremely low-density halo and a high baryon fraction, while CDM predicts dwarfs to have very dense and dominant dark haloes. The alleged tension relies on the galaxy's rotation curve decomposition, which depends heavily on its inclination. This inclination, estimated from the gas (neutral atomic hydrogen, H I) morphology, remains somewhat uncertain. We present unmatched ultra-deep optical imaging of AGC 114905 reaching surface brightness limits μr, lim ≈ 32 mag/arcsec2 (3σ; 10 arcsec × 10 arcsec) obtained with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. With the new imaging, we characterise the galaxy's optical morphology, surface brightness, colours, and stellar mass profiles in great detail. The stellar disc has a similar extent to the H I disc, presents spiral arms-like features, and shows a well-defined edge. Stars and gas have a similar morphology, and crucially, we find an inclination of 31 ± 2°, in agreement with the previous determinations. We revisit the rotation curve decomposition of the galaxy, and we explore different mass models in the context of CDM, self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), fuzzy dark matter (FDM) or Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We find that the last does not fit the circular speed of the galaxy, while CDM only does so with dark halo parameters rarely seen in cosmological simulations. Within the uncertainties, SIDM and FDM remain feasible candidates to explain the observed kinematics of AGC 114905.
Proyectos relacionados
Miembros del grupo
Huellas de la Formación de las Galaxias: Poblaciones estelares, Dinámica y Morfología
Bienvenida a la página web del g rupo de investigación Traces of Galaxy Formation. Somos un grupo de investigación amplio, diverso y muy activo cuyo objetivo principal es entender la formación de galaxias en el Universo de una manera lo más completa posible. Con el estudio detellado de las poblaciones estelares como bandera, estamos constantemente
Ignacio
Martín Navarro