Image Details
Caption: Figure 6.
A spatial projection of the direct orbital histories illustrated in Figure 5 in Galactocentric coordinates. The top panels show likely backsplash galaxies, while the bottom panels show likely first-infall galaxies (the same as in Figure 5). In all panels, the virial extent of the MW (black) and M31 (gray) are indicated with dotted circles. Their present-day positions are marked with horizontal dashes. The dotted gray and black lines indicate the motion of the MW and M31 over the last 6 Gyr. For all galaxies in our sample, marker symbols also indicate their present-day location. The top panel shows that Leo I, Leo II, and NGC 6822 have crossed through the virial radius of the MW. Similarly, IC 10 has passed through the virial radius of M31 in the last 6 Gyr. The bottom panels show the first infall galaxies in our sample. Many of them were hundreds to thousands of kiloparsecs from the MW or M31 6 Gyr ago, having only recently entered the LG and/or the virial extents of the MW/M31.
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.