Beyond Ultra-diffuse Galaxies. II. Environmental Quenching of Mass-Size Outliers among the Satellites of Milky Way Analogs

TL;DR

This study investigates the environmental factors affecting large, diffuse dwarf galaxies around Milky Way-like hosts, revealing that size outliers are quenched similarly to normal satellites, with environment influencing their properties.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the sizes, distributions, and quenching of mass-size outliers using deep imaging and simulations, clarifying their environmental dependence.

Findings

Ultra-puffy galaxies have similar quenched fractions as normal satellites.

Quenching correlates with proximity to the host and host galaxy color.

Classic ultra-diffuse galaxy definitions are biased towards quenched galaxies.

Abstract

Recent observations have reignited interest in a population of dwarf galaxies that are large and diffuse for their mass, often called ultra-diffuse galaxies. However, the origin and evolution of these mass-size outliers and the role of the environment are still unclear. Using the exquisitely deep and wide Hyper Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey images, we search for ultra-puffy galaxies, defined as being $1.5\sigma$ larger than the average size for their mass, around Milky Way-like galaxies. We present the sizes and radial distributions of mass-size outliers and derive their quenched fraction to explore the impact of the environment. Surprisingly, despite being outliers in size, the ultra-puffy galaxies have a similar quenched fraction as normal-sized satellites of Milky Way analogs in both observations and simulations, suggesting that quenching is not tied to being a mass-size outlier. The quenched fraction is higher for the ultra-puffy galaxies associated with redder hosts, as well as those that are closer to the host in projection. In contrast, the ultra-diffuse galaxies are overall redder and more quiescent compared with normal satellites. We show that the classic definition of ultra-diffuse galaxies is heavily weighted toward quenched galaxies and thus cannot be used for a study of quenching of mass-size outliers.