Could M31 be the result of a major merger?

TL;DR

This study uses constrained galaxy merger simulations to explore whether M31 could be the remnant of a gas-rich major merger, successfully reproducing its main features and offering a new explanation for the Giant Stream.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a gas-rich major merger can produce a galaxy matching M31's observed properties, providing a novel explanation for the Giant Stream.

Findings

Reproduced M31's global shape, thin disk, and bulge

Simulated features like the thick disk, 10kpc ring, and Giant Stream

Proposed a tidal tail origin for the Giant Stream

Abstract

We investigated a scenario in which M31 could be the remnant of a gas-rich major merger. Galaxy merger simulations, highly constrained by observations, were run using GADGET 2 in order to reproduce M31. We succeeded in reproducing the global shape of M31, the thin disk and the bulge, and in addition some of the main M31 large-scale features, such as the thick disk, the 10kpc ring and the Giant Stream. This lead to a new explanation of the Giant Stream which could be caused by tidal tail stars that have been captured by the galaxy potential.