Radial Distributions of Dwarf Satellite Systems in the Local Volume

Understand

The radial spatial distribution of low-mass satellites around a Milky Way (MW)-like host is an important benchmark for simulations of small-scale structure.

• The distribution is sensitive to the disruption of subhalos by the central disk and can indicate whether the disruption observed in simulations of MW analogs is artificial (i.e., numeric) or physical in origin.
• We consider a sample of 12 well-surveyed satellite systems of MW-like hosts in the Local Volume that are complete to $M_V<-9$ and within 150 projected kpc.
• We investigate the radial distribution of satellites and compare with $\Lambda$CDM cosmological simulations, including big-box cosmological simulations and high resolution zoom in simulations of MW sized halos.