Streams on FIRE: Populations of Detectable Stellar Streams in the Milky Way and FIRE

Nora Shipp; Nondh Panithanpaisal; Lina Necib; Robyn Sanderson; Denis Erkal; Ting S. Li; Isaiah B. Santistevan; Andrew Wetzel; Lara R. Cullinane; Alexander P. Ji; Sergey E. Koposov; Kyler Kuehn; Geraint F. Lewis; Andrew B. Pace; Daniel B. Zucker; Joss Bland-Hawthorn; Emily C. Cunningham; Stacy Y. Kim; Sophia Lilleengen; Jorge Moreno; Sanjib Sharma; S Collaboration & FIRE Collaboration

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acc582

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)

Streams on FIRE: Populations of Detectable Stellar Streams in the Milky Way and FIRE

Nora Shipp,
Nondh Panithanpaisal,
Lina Necib,
Robyn Sanderson,
Denis Erkal,
Ting S. Li,
Isaiah B. Santistevan,
Andrew Wetzel,
Lara R. Cullinane,
Alexander P. Ji,
Sergey E. Koposov,
Kyler Kuehn,
Geraint F. Lewis,
Andrew B. Pace,
Daniel B. Zucker,
Joss Bland-Hawthorn,
Emily C. Cunningham,
Stacy Y. Kim,
Sophia Lilleengen,
Jorge Moreno,
Sanjib Sharma,
S Collaboration & FIRE Collaboration

Affiliations

Nora Shipp: ORCiD; MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research , 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; [email protected]
Nondh Panithanpaisal: ORCiD; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania , 209 S 33rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Lina Necib: ORCiD; MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research , 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Robyn Sanderson: ORCiD; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania , 209 S 33rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010, USA
Denis Erkal: ORCiD; Department of Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK
Ting S. Li: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3H4, Canada
Isaiah B. Santistevan: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Davis, CA 95616, USA
Andrew Wetzel: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Davis, CA 95616, USA
Lara R. Cullinane: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Alexander P. Ji: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Sergey E. Koposov: ORCiD; Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Rd., Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK; Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Rd., Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK
Kyler Kuehn: ORCiD; Lowell Observatory , 1400 W Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA; Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University , Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia
Geraint F. Lewis: ORCiD; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney , NSW 2006, Australia
Andrew B. Pace: ORCiD; McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University , 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Daniel B. Zucker: ORCiD; School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University , Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; Macquarie University Research Centre for Astronomy , Astrophysics & Astrophotonics, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Joss Bland-Hawthorn: ORCiD; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney , NSW 2006, Australia; Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
Emily C. Cunningham: ORCiD; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010, USA
Stacy Y. Kim: ORCiD; Department of Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK
Sophia Lilleengen: ORCiD; Department of Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK
Jorge Moreno: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pomona College , Claremont, CA 91711, USA; Downing College, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, CB3 OHA, UK
Sanjib Sharma: ORCiD; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney , NSW 2006, Australia; Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
S Collaboration & FIRE Collaboration

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc582
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 949, no. 2
p. 44

Abstract

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We present the first detailed comparison of populations of dwarf galaxy stellar streams in cosmological simulations and the Milky Way. In particular, we compare streams identified around 13 Milky Way analogs in the FIRE-2 simulations to streams observed by the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey ( S ^5 ). For an accurate comparison, we produce mock Dark Energy Survey (DES) observations of the FIRE streams and estimate the detectability of their tidal tails and progenitors. The number and stellar mass distributions of detectable stellar streams is consistent between observations and simulations. However, there are discrepancies in the distributions of pericenters and apocenters, with the detectable FIRE streams, on average, forming at larger pericenters (out to >110 kpc) and surviving only at larger apocenters (≳40 kpc) than those observed in the Milky Way. We find that the population of high-stellar-mass dwarf galaxy streams in the Milky Way is incomplete. Interestingly, a large fraction of the FIRE streams would only be detected as intact satellites in DES-like observations, since their tidal tails have too low surface brightness to be detectable. We thus predict a population of yet-undetected tidal tails around Milky Way satellites, as well as a population of fully undetected low-surface-brightness stellar streams, and estimate their detectability with the Rubin Observatory. Finally, we discuss the causes and implications of the discrepancies between the stream populations in FIRE and the Milky Way, and explore future avenues for tests of satellite disruption in cosmological simulations.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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