The SPLASH Survey: Internal Kinematics, Chemical Abundances, and Masses of the Andromeda I, II, III, VII, X, and XIV dSphs

TL;DR

This study provides detailed spectroscopic analysis of six Andromeda dwarf spheroidal galaxies, revealing their internal kinematics, chemical compositions, and masses, and compares these properties with Milky Way counterparts to understand galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It offers the first systematic comparison of Andromeda's dSphs with Milky Way satellites, highlighting differences in density and chemical evolution.

Findings

M31's dSphs have similar or smaller masses than Milky Way dSphs of the same luminosity.

The chemical evolution histories of satellites are similar across different hosts.

M31's dSphs tend to be less dense than their Milky Way counterparts.

Abstract

We present new Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic observations of hundreds of individual stars along the sightline to Andromeda's first three discovered dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) - And I, II, and III, and leverage recent observations by our team of three additional dSphs, And VII, X, and XIV, as a part of the SPLASH Survey. Member stars of each dSph are isolated from foreground Milky Way dwarf and M31 field contamination using a variety of photometric and spectroscopic diagnostics. Our final spectroscopic sample of member stars in each dSph, for which we measure accurate radial velocities with a median uncertainty (random plus systematic errors) of 4 - 5 km/s, includes 80 red giants in And I, 95 in And II, 43 in And III, 18 in And VII, 22 in And X, and 38 in And XIV. The sample of confirmed members in the six dSphs are used to derive each system's mean radial velocity, intrinsic central velocity dispersion, mean abundance, abundance spread, and dynamical mass. This combined data set presents us with a unique opportunity to perform the first systematic comparison of the global properties (e.g., metallicities, sizes, and dark matter masses) of one-third of Andromeda's total known dSph population with Milky Way counterparts of the same luminosity. We discuss both the luminosity-metallicity relation and the luminosity-size relation of these satellites, and find that the chemical evolution histories of each host's satellites is similar. The dynamical mass estimates of M31's dSphs are similar or smaller than Milky Way dSphs of the same luminosity despite their sizes being similar or larger, suggesting M31 dSphs are less dense than Milky Way counterparts. The implications of these results for general understanding of galaxy formation and evolution is summarized. Abridged.