Stellar splashback: the edge of the intracluster light

Deason, Alis J.; Oman, Kyle A.; Fattahi, Azadeh; Schaller, Matthieu; Jauzac, Mathilde; Zhang, Yuanyuan; Montes, Mireia; Bahé, Yannick M.; Dalla Vecchia, Claudio; Kay, Scott T.; Evans, Tilly A.
Referencia bibliográfica

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Fecha de publicación:
1
2021
Número de autores
11
Número de autores del IAC
1
Número de citas
26
Número de citas referidas
22
Descripción
We examine the outskirts of galaxy clusters in the C-EAGLE simulations to quantify the 'edges' of the stellar and dark matter distribution. The radius of the steepest slope in the dark matter, commonly used as a proxy for the splashback radius, is located at $\sim \, r_{200 \rm m}$ ; the strength and location of this feature depends on the recent mass accretion rate, in good agreement with previous work. Interestingly, the stellar distribution (or intracluster light, ICL) also has a well-defined edge, which is directly related to the splashback radius of the halo. Thus, detecting the edge of the ICL can provide an independent measure of the physical boundary of the halo, and the recent mass accretion rate. We show that these caustics can also be seen in the projected density profiles, but care must be taken to account for the influence of substructures and other non-diffuse material, which can bias and/or weaken the signal of the steepest slope. This is particularly important for the stellar material, which has a higher fraction bound in subhaloes than the dark matter. Finally, we show that the 'stellar splashback' feature is located beyond current observational constraints on the ICL, but these large projected distances (≫1 Mpc) and low surface brightnesses (μ ≫ 32 mag arcsec-2) can be reached with upcoming observational facilities such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and Euclid.
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Astrofísica Numérica: Formación y Evolución de Galaxias

Entre las cuestiones fundamentales en Astronomía y Astrofísica están la formación y evolución de galaxias. Las escalas de tiempo y tamaño son tan astronómicas que su observación en galaxias individuales es imposible. Solo con el uso de simulaciones numéricas es posible entender la formación de estructuras cósmicas dentro del actual marco

Claudio
Dalla Vecchia