Are the Milky Way and Andromeda unusual? A comparison with Milky Way and Andromeda Analogs
Nicholas Fraser Boardman, Gail Zasowski, Jeffrey Newman, Brett, Andrews, Catherine Fielder, Matthew Bershady, Jonathan Brinkmann, Niv Drory,, Dhanesh Krishnarao, Richard Lane, Ted Mackereth, Karen Masters, Guy, Stringfellow

TL;DR
This study compares the properties of Milky Way and Andromeda analogs to understand how well they match their real counterparts, highlighting the importance of including structural and star-formation criteria for accurate analog selection.
Contribution
It systematically evaluates different selection criteria for galaxy analogs, improving the methodology for identifying meaningful Milky Way and Andromeda analogs.
Findings
Milky Way is within 1σ of its analogs in star-formation rate and bulge-to-total ratio
Scale length differences suggest it should be included in analog selection
Analog selection based on morphology and star-formation rate affects similarity to Andromeda
Abstract
Our Milky Way provides a unique test case for galaxy evolution models, thanks to our privileged position within the Milky Way's disc. This position also complicates comparisons between the Milky Way and external galaxies, due to our inability to observe the Milky Way from an external point of view. Milky Way analog galaxies offer us a chance to bridge this divide by providing the external perspective that we otherwise lack. However, over-precise definitions of "analog" yield little-to-no galaxies, so it is vital to understand which selection criteria produce the most meaningful analog samples. To address this, we compare the properties of complementary samples of Milky Way analogs selected using different criteria. We find the Milky Way to be within 1 of its analogs in terms of star-formation rate and bulge-to-total ratio in most cases, but we find larger offsets between the…
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