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Magellanic-Cloud Like Satellites are Rare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2011

C.F. Ivory
Affiliation:
Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead, CH41 1LD, UK
P.A. James
Affiliation:
Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead, CH41 1LD, UK
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Abstract

To investigate hierarchical models of galaxy formation and evolution it is important to have large samples of true satellites, extending to the faintest possible luminosities. We have used Hα narrow-band imaging to search for star-forming satellite galaxies around 143 field spiral galaxies comparable to the Milky Way and found 63 candidate satellites associated with 47 host galaxies. A subset of 12 candidate satellites and their 11 host galaxies were spectroscopically observed to test if the candidates were true satellites and bound to their host. This confirmed that Hα imaging is a reliable method for searching for faint satellites. Within the overall sample of 63 satellites only ~6 could be considered analogous with the LMC and ~14 with the SMC.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2011

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References

Ivory, C.F., & James, P.A., 2010, MNRAS, in press [arXiv1009.2394]
James, P.A., & Ivory, C.F., 2010, MNRAS, in press [arXiv1009.2875]