A dynamical study of the vast thin plane of corotating dwarf galaxies orbiting the Andromeda galaxy.
Veronica Arias (University of Sydney)
The origin of the recently discovered ´´vast thin plane of corotating dwarf galaxies´´ orbiting the Andromeda galaxy remains a puzzle. Such a structure, which is around 400 kiloparsecs (kpc) in diameter and has a perpendicular scatter of less than 14.1kpc, cannot be explained by current galaxy formation models. Some alternative attempts have been made to explain this planar structure, but a validation or rejection of any possible formation scenario requires a rigorous dynamical understanding of the system. In this work, we carry out a numerical study of this plane of dwarf galaxies, to better understand the dynamics and the long term stability of such a structure.
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