A determination of the LMC dark matter subhalo mass using the MW halo stars in its gravitational wake

TL;DR

This paper uses Gaia DR3 data and theoretical modeling to estimate the dark matter subhalo mass of the Large Magellanic Cloud by analyzing its gravitational effects on the Milky Way's stellar halo.

Contribution

It provides the first estimate of the LMC's dark matter subhalo mass using stellar halo responses and improves understanding of the local gravitational wake.

Findings

Estimated LMC dark matter subhalo mass: ~1.7×10^{11} solar masses

Enhanced characterization of the local gravitational wake

Comparison with previous literature values

Abstract

Our goal is to study the gravitational effects caused by the passage of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in its orbit on the stellar halo of the Milky Way (MW). We employed the Gaia Data Release 3 to construct a halo tracers data set consisting of K-Giant stars and RR-Lyrae variables. Additionally, we have compared the data with a theoretical model to estimate the DM subhalo mass. We have improved the characterisation of the local wake and the collective response due to the LMC orbit. On the other hand, we have estimated for the first time the dark subhalo mass of the Large Magellanic Cloud, of the order of $1.7\times 10^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$, comparable to previously reported values in the literature.