HI in Local Group Dwarf Galaxies and Stripping by the Galactic Halo

TL;DR

This study investigates the HI content of Local Group dwarf galaxies, revealing that proximity to the Milky Way correlates with HI deficiency, and constrains the Milky Way's halo density, indicating most star formation fuel is not from small satellites.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis of HI in all Local Group dwarf galaxies and estimates the Milky Way's halo density using ram-pressure stripping arguments.

Findings

Most nearby dwarfs lack detectable HI, especially within 270 kpc.

Halo density is constrained to >2-3 x 10^-4 cm^-3 out to 70 kpc.

Small satellites contribute minimally to the Milky Way's star formation fuel.

Abstract

We examine the HI content and environment of all of the Local Group dwarf galaxies (M_tot < 10^10 M_solar), including the numerous newly discovered satellites of the Milky Way and M31. All of the new dwarfs, with the exception of Leo T, have no detected HI. The majority of dwarf galaxies within ~270 kpc of the Milky Way or Andromeda are undetected in HI (< 10^5 M_solar for Milky Way dwarfs), while those further than ~270 kpc are predominantly detected with masses ~10^5 to 10^8 M_solar. Analytical ram-pressure arguments combined with velocities obtained via proper motion studies allow for an estimate of the halo density of the Milky Way at several distances. This halo density is constrained to be greater than 2-3 x 10^-4 cm^-3 out to distances of at least 70 kpc. This is broadly consistent with theoretical models of the diffuse gas in a Milky Way-like halo and is consistent with this component hosting a large fraction of a galaxy's baryons. Accounting for completeness in the dwarf galaxy count, gas-less dwarf galaxies could have provided at most 2.1 x 10^8 M_solar of HI gas to the Milky Way, which suggests that most of our Galaxy's star formation fuel does not come from accreted small satellites in the current era.