Resolved Dwarf Galaxy Searches within ~5 Mpc with the Vera Rubin Observatory and Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam*

Journal Article · 15 September 2021 · The Astrophysical Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac0db8 · OSTI ID:1832843

Mutlu-Pakdıl, Burçın  ^[1]; Sand, David J.  ^[2]; Crnojević, Denija  ^[3]; Drlica-Wagner, Alex  ^[4]; Caldwell, Nelson  ^[5]; Guhathakurta, Puragra  ^[6]; Seth, Anil C.  ^[7]; Simon, Joshua D.  ^[8]; Strader, Jay  ^[9]; Toloba, Elisa  ^[10]

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1. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
2. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
3. Univ. of Tampa, FL (United States)
4. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
5. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States)
6. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
7. Utah State Univ., Logan, UT (United States)
8. Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA (United States)
9. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
10. Univ. of the Pacific, Stockton, CA (United States)

We present a preview of the faint dwarf galaxy discoveries that will be possible with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam in the next decade. In this work, we combine deep ground-based images from the Panoramic Imaging Survey of Centaurus and Sculptor (PISCeS) and extensive image simulations to investigate the recovery of faint, resolved dwarf galaxies in the Local Volume with a matched-filter technique. We adopt three fiducial distances - 1.5, 3.5, 5 Mpc, and quantitatively evaluate the effects on dwarf detection of varied stellar backgrounds, ellipticity, and Milky Way foreground contamination and extinction. We show that our matched-filter method is powerful for identifying both compact and extended systems, and near-future surveys will be able to probe at least ~4.5 mag below the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) for a distance of up to 1.5 Mpc, and ~2 mag below the TRGB at 5 Mpc. This will push the discovery frontier for resolved dwarf galaxies to fainter magnitudes, lower surface brightnesses, and larger distances. Our simulations show the secure census of dwarf galaxies down to $$M_{V}$$$$\approx$$-5, -7, -8, will be soon within reach, out to 1.5 Mpc, 3.5 Mpc, and 5 Mpc, respectively, allowing us to quantify the statistical fluctuations in satellite abundances around hosts, and parse environmental effects as a function of host properties.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1832843
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB--21-484-AE; arXiv:2105.01658; oai:inspirehep.net:1938730
• Journal Information: The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 918; ISSN 0004-637X
• Publisher: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English