TY - JOUR
T1 - LIGHTS. Survey Overview and a Search for Low Surface Brightness Satellite Galaxies
AU - Zaritsky, Dennis
AU - Golini, Giulia
AU - Donnerstein, Richard
AU - Trujillo, Ignacio
AU - Akhlaghi, Mohammad
AU - Chamba, Nushkia
AU - D’Onofrio, Mauro
AU - Eskandarlou, Sepideh
AU - Hosseini-ShahiSavandi, S. Zahra
AU - Infante-Sainz, Raúl
AU - Martin, Garreth
AU - Montes, Mireia
AU - Román, Javier
AU - Sedighi, Nafise
AU - Sharbaf, Zahra
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
PY - 2024/8/1
Y1 - 2024/8/1
N2 - We present an overview of the LBT Imaging of Galactic Halos and Tidal Structures survey, which currently includes 25 nearby galaxies that are on average ∼1 mag fainter than the Milky Way, and a catalog of 54 low central surface brightness (24 < μ 0,g /mag arcsec−2 < 28) satellite galaxy candidates, most of which were previously uncatalogued. The depth of the imaging exceeds the full 10 yr depth of the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. We find, after applying completeness corrections, rising numbers of candidate satellites as we approach the limiting luminosity (M r ∼ −8 mag) and central surface brightness (μ 0,g ∼ 28 mag arcsec−2). Over the parameter range we explore, each host galaxy (excluding those that are in overdense regions, apparently groups) has nearly four such candidate satellites to a projected radius of ∼100 kpc. These objects are mostly just at or beyond the reach of spectroscopy unless they are H i rich or have ongoing star formation. We identify three, possibly four, ultra-diffuse satellite galaxies (effective radius >1.5 kpc). This incidence rate falls within expectations of the extrapolation of the published relationship between the number of ultra-diffuse satellite galaxies and host halo mass. Last, we visually identify 12 candidate satellites that host a nuclear star cluster (NSC). The NSC occupation fraction for the sample (12/54) matches that published for satellites of early-type galaxies, suggesting that the parent’s morphological type plays at most a limited role in determining the NSC occupation fraction.
AB - We present an overview of the LBT Imaging of Galactic Halos and Tidal Structures survey, which currently includes 25 nearby galaxies that are on average ∼1 mag fainter than the Milky Way, and a catalog of 54 low central surface brightness (24 < μ 0,g /mag arcsec−2 < 28) satellite galaxy candidates, most of which were previously uncatalogued. The depth of the imaging exceeds the full 10 yr depth of the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. We find, after applying completeness corrections, rising numbers of candidate satellites as we approach the limiting luminosity (M r ∼ −8 mag) and central surface brightness (μ 0,g ∼ 28 mag arcsec−2). Over the parameter range we explore, each host galaxy (excluding those that are in overdense regions, apparently groups) has nearly four such candidate satellites to a projected radius of ∼100 kpc. These objects are mostly just at or beyond the reach of spectroscopy unless they are H i rich or have ongoing star formation. We identify three, possibly four, ultra-diffuse satellite galaxies (effective radius >1.5 kpc). This incidence rate falls within expectations of the extrapolation of the published relationship between the number of ultra-diffuse satellite galaxies and host halo mass. Last, we visually identify 12 candidate satellites that host a nuclear star cluster (NSC). The NSC occupation fraction for the sample (12/54) matches that published for satellites of early-type galaxies, suggesting that the parent’s morphological type plays at most a limited role in determining the NSC occupation fraction.
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U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/ad543f
DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/ad543f
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85198592418
SN - 0004-6256
VL - 168
JO - Astronomical Journal
JF - Astronomical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 69
ER -