The effects of LMC-mass environments on their dwarf satellite galaxies in the FIRE simulations

TL;DR

This study uses FIRE simulations to explore how LMC-mass halos influence their dwarf satellite galaxies, revealing environmental quenching mechanisms, tidal features, and similarities to Milky Way satellite populations.

Contribution

It provides detailed predictions of environmental effects, quenching processes, and tidal structures for satellites of LMC-mass halos, filling a gap in simulation-based understanding.

Findings

Significant hot gas coronae around LMC-mass halos.

Environmental quenching mainly via ram-pressure stripping.

Presence of tidal stellar streams around LMC analogs.

Abstract

Characterizing the predicted environments of dwarf galaxies like the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is becoming increasingly important as next generation surveys push sensitivity limits into this low-mass regime at cosmological distances. We study the environmental effects of LMC-mass halos ($M_{200m} \sim 10^{11}$ M$_\odot$) on their populations of satellites ($M_\star \geq 10^4$ M$_\odot$) using a suite of zoom-in simulations from the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. Our simulations predict significant hot coronas with $T\sim10^5$ K and $M_\text{gas}\sim10^{9.5}$ M$_\odot$. We identify signatures of environmental quenching in dwarf satellite galaxies, particularly for satellites with intermediate mass ($M_\star = 10^{6-7}$ M$_\odot$). The gas content of such objects indicates ram-pressure as the likely quenching mechanism, sometimes aided by star formation feedback. Satellites of LMC-mass hosts replicate the stellar mass dependence of the quiescent fraction found in satellites of MW mass hosts (i.e. that the quiescent fraction increases as stellar mass decreases). Satellites of LMC-mass hosts have a wider variety of quenching times when compared to the strongly bi-modal distribution of quenching times of nearby centrals. Finally, we identify significant tidal stellar structures around four of our six LMC-analogs, suggesting that stellar streams may be common. These tidal features originated from satellites on close orbits, extend to $\sim$80 kpc from the central galaxy, and contain $\sim10^{6-7}$ M$_\odot$~of stars.