eprintid: 25233
rev_number: 14
eprint_status: archive
userid: 3960
dir: disk0/00/02/52/33
datestamp: 2018-08-29 13:34:14
lastmod: 2018-09-05 11:53:23
status_changed: 2018-08-29 13:34:14
type: doctoralThesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Morales, Gustavo
title: Stellar Tidal Streams as Cosmological Diagnostics:
Comparing data and simulations at low galactic scales
subjects: ddc-520
divisions: i-130001
adv_faculty: af-13
cterms_swd: Astronomie
abstract: In hierarchical models of galaxy formation, stellar tidal streams are expected around most
galaxies. Although these features may provide useful diagnostics of the LCDM model, their
observational properties remain poorly constrained. Statistical analysis of the counts and
properties of such features is of interest for a direct comparison against results from numerical simulations. In this work, we aim to study systematically the frequency of occurrence and
other observational properties of tidal features around nearby galaxies. The approach featured
here is based on a visual classification of diffuse features around a sample of nearby galaxies,
using a post-processing of optical survey imaging optimized for the detection of low-surfacebrightness stellar structure. At the limiting surface brightness of this sample, 14 − 17% of the
galaxies exhibit evidence of diffuse features likely to have arisen from minor merging events.
For simulated images, the frequency is 16 − 19%. Our technique recovers all previously known
streams in the selected sample and yields a number of new candidates. We conclude that this
methodology provides a reliable foundation for the statistical analysis of diffuse circumgalactic features in wide-area imaging surveys, and for the identification of targets for follow-up
studies.
date: 2018
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00025233
ppn_swb: 1655671677
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-252339
date_accepted: 2018-07-25
advisor: HASH(0x55fc36d1a008)
language: eng
bibsort: MORALESGUSSTELLARTID2018
full_text_status: public
citation:   Morales, Gustavo  (2018) Stellar Tidal Streams as Cosmological Diagnostics: Comparing data and simulations at low galactic scales.  [Dissertation]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/25233/1/gmorales_thesis-compressed.pdf