The Clustering of Orbital Poles Induced by the LMC: Hints for the Origin of Planes of Satellites

Understand

A significant fraction of Milky Way (MW) satellites exhibit phase-space properties consistent with a coherent orbital plane.

• Using tailored N--body simulations of a spherical MW halo that recently captured a massive (1.8$\times 10^{11}$M$\odot$) LMC-like satellite, we identify the physical mechanisms that may enhance the clustering of orbital poles of objects orbiting the MW.
• The LMC deviates the orbital poles of MW dark matter (DM) particles from the present-day random distribution.
• Instead, the orbital poles of particles beyond $R\approx 50$kpc cluster near the present-day orbital pole of the LMC along a sinusoidal pattern across the sky.