Survival of Satellite Galaxies in Minor Mergers
Abstract
We have studied the survivability of satellite galaxies in different orbits around a host galaxy. Assuming axisymmetry, we obtained deprojected (three-dimensional) mass density profiles from surface photometry of eight nearby satellite galaxies. We then placed them in the gravitational potential of several model host galaxies, built to span the range of elliptical galaxy types, and followed their dynamical evolution, especially in terms of mass loss due to dynamical friction and tidal stripping. We tried a number of satellite-to-primary mass ratios, initial separations, and orbital eccentricities. While most of the satellites survived under most initial conditions, some of them showed complete disruption for a significant fraction of the initial conditions. These simulations allow us to evaluate whether the observed satellites are newly-accreted members of the galaxy system in which they belong, and how susceptible they are to disruption. Even more importantly, however, they may help to constrain several proposed scenarios for galaxy evolution, including heating of disks, growth of bulges and halos, hierarchical growth of galaxies, formation of shells, generation of starbursts, bar and spiral structure, formation of globular clusters and the survival of the core fundamental plane parameters.
- Publication:
-
10th Hellenic Astronomical Conference
- Pub Date:
- January 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012hell.confR..19S