CaltechAUTHORS
Published June 2022 | Version Published + Accepted Version
Journal Article Open

Preparing for low surface brightness science with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Characterization of tidal features from mock images

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
  • 2. ROR icon University of Arizona
  • 3. ROR icon Macquarie University
  • 4. ROR icon Australian Research Council
  • 5. ROR icon Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
  • 6. ROR icon Case Western Reserve University
  • 7. ROR icon Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental
  • 8. ROR icon National University of Córdoba
  • 9. ROR icon UNSW Sydney
  • 10. ROR icon NOIRLab
  • 11. ROR icon Liverpool John Moores University
  • 12. ROR icon Observatory of Strasbourg
  • 13. ROR icon University of La Serena
  • 14. ROR icon Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
  • 15. ROR icon National Autonomous University of Mexico
  • 16. ROR icon Yonsei University
  • 17. ROR icon University of Hertfordshire
  • 18. ROR icon Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
  • 19. ROR icon University of La Laguna
  • 20. ROR icon University of Birmingham
  • 21. ROR icon Lancaster University
  • 22. ROR icon University of California, Los Angeles
  • 23. ROR icon University of California, Davis
  • 24. ROR icon Northwestern University
  • 25. ROR icon Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
  • 26. ROR icon Sorbonne University
  • 27. ROR icon Korea Institute for Advanced Study
  • 28. ROR icon Royal Observatory
  • 29. ROR icon Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
  • 30. ROR icon University of Valladolid
  • 31. ROR icon University of Lisbon
  • 32. ROR icon Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania
  • 33. ROR icon University of Concepción
  • 34. ROR icon Valencian International University
  • 35. ROR icon Swinburne University of Technology
  • 36. ROR icon University of Louisville
  • 37. ROR icon University of KwaZulu-Natal
  • 38. ROR icon University of Alabama
  • 39. ROR icon Minnesota State University, Mankato
  • 40. ROR icon Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • 41. ROR icon National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Abstract

Tidal features in the outskirts of galaxies yield unique information about their past interactions and are a key prediction of the hierarchical structure formation paradigm. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is poised to deliver deep observations for potentially millions of objects with visible tidal features, but the inference of galaxy interaction histories from such features is not straightforward. Utilizing automated techniques and human visual classification in conjunction with realistic mock images produced using the NewHorizon cosmological simulation, we investigate the nature, frequency, and visibility of tidal features and debris across a range of environments and stellar masses. In our simulated sample, around 80 per cent of the flux in the tidal features around Milky Way or greater mass galaxies is detected at the 10-yr depth of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (30–31 mag arcsec⁻²), falling to 60 per cent assuming a shallower final depth of 29.5 mag arcsec⁻². The fraction of total flux found in tidal features increases towards higher masses, rising to 10 per cent for the most massive objects in our sample (M⋆ ∼ 10^(11.5) M_⊙). When observed at sufficient depth, such objects frequently exhibit many distinct tidal features with complex shapes. The interpretation and characterization of such features varies significantly with image depth and object orientation, introducing significant biases in their classification. Assuming the data reduction pipeline is properly optimized, we expect the Rubin Observatory to be capable of recovering much of the flux found in the outskirts of Milky Way mass galaxies, even at intermediate redshifts (z < 0.2).

Additional Information

© 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model). Received: 08 December 2021. Revision received: 01 April 2022. Accepted: 07 April 2022. Published: 11 April 2022. GM thanks Peter Yoachim for sharing theoretical results for LSST surface brightness metrics and Yohan Dubois for fruitful discussion. JAB acknowledge financial support from CONICET through PIP 11220170100527CO grant. JLC acknowledges support from National Science Foundation (NSF) grant AST-1816196. CAC acknowledges support from the Science and Technology Research Council under grant ST/S006095/1 and LJMU. FAG acknowledges financial support from FONDECYT Regular 1211370 and from the Max Planck Society through a Partner Group grant. GG gratefully acknowledges support by the ANID BASAL projects ACE210002 and FB210003. RAJ acknowledges support from the Yonsei University Research Fund (Yonsei Frontier Lab. Young Researcher Supporting Program) of 2021 and from the Korean National Research Foundation (NRF-2020R1A2C3003769). SK acknowledges support from the STFC [ST/S00615X/1] and a Senior Research Fellowship from Worcester College Oxford. JHK acknowledges financial support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 721463 to the SUNDIAL ITN network, from the State Research Agency (AEI-MCINN) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the grant 'The structure and evolution of galaxies and their central regions' with reference PID2019-105602GB-I00/10.13039/501100011033, and from IAC project P/300724, financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, through the State Budget and by the Canary Islands Department of Economy, Knowledge and Employment, through the Regional Budget of the Autonomous Community. DJP acknowledges funding from an Australian Research Council Discovery Program grant DP190102448. JR acknowledges support from the State Research Agency (AEI-MCINN) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the grant 'The structure and evolution of galaxies and their central regions' with reference PID2019-105602GB-I00/10.13039/501100011033. EAS thanks the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, which is funded by LSSTC, NSF Cybertraining Grant #1829740, the Brinson Foundation, and the Moore Foundation. AEW acknowledges support from the STFC [ST/S00615X/1]. MB acknowledges support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council through grant number ST/N021702/1. FB acknowledges support grants PID2020-116188GA-I00 and PID2019-107427GB-C32 from The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. FD acknowledges support from the STFC [ST/V506709/1]. RD gratefully acknowledges support by the ANID BASAL projects ACE210002 and FB210003. This work has made use of the Horizon cluster on which the simulation was post-processed, hosted by the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris. We warmly thank S. Rouberol for running it smoothly. The authors thank the referee, Andrew Cooper, for a detailed and constructive report which helped improve the final paper. DATA AVAILABILITY. The simulation data analysed in this paper were provided by the NEWHORIZON collaboration. The data will be shared on request to the corresponding author, with the permission of the NEWHORIZON collaboration or may be requested from https://new.horizon-simulation.org/data.html.

Attached Files

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Accepted Version - 2203.07675.pdf

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Additional details

Additional titles

Alternative title
Preparing for low surface brightness science with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory: characterisation of tidal features from mock images

Identifiers

Eprint ID
116020
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20220802-743092000

Related works

Describes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.07675 (URL)
https://new.horizon-simulation.org/data.html (URL)

Funding

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
PIP 11220170100527CO
NSF
AST-1816196
Science and Technology Research Council
ST/S006095/1
Liverpool John Moores University
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT)
1211370
Max Planck Society
Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID)
ACE210002
Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID)
FB210003
Yonsei University
National Research Foundation of Korea
NRF-2020R1A2C3003769
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
ST/S00615X/1
Worcester College Oxford
Marie Curie Fellowship
721463
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
PID2019-105602GB-I00/10.13039/501100011033
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
P/300724
Canary Islands Department of Economy, Knowledge and Employment
Australian Research Council
DP190102448
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Corporation
NSF
OAC-1829740
Brinson Foundation
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
ST/N021702/1
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
PID2020-116188GA-I00
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
PID2019-107427GB-C32
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
ST/V506709/1

Dates

Created
2022-08-02
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2022-08-11
Created from EPrint's last_modified field