Broken and unbroken: The milky way and M31 stellar halos

Abstract

We use the Bullock & Johnston suite of simulations to study the density profiles of L*-type galaxy stellar halos. Observations of the Milky Way and M31 stellar halos show contrasting results: the Milky Way has a "broken" profile, where the density falls off more rapidly beyond 25 kpc, while M31 has a smooth profile out to 100 kpc with no obvious break. Simulated stellar halos, built solely by the accretion of dwarf galaxies, also exhibit this behavior: some halos have breaks, while others do not. The presence or absence of a break in the stellar halo profile can be related to the accretion history of the galaxy. We find that a break radius is strongly related to the buildup of stars at apocenters. We relate these findings to observations, and find that the "break" in the Milky Way density profile is likely associated with a relatively early (m;6-9 Gyr ago) and massive accretion event. In contrast, the absence of a break in the M31 stellar halo profile suggests that its accreted satellites have a wide range of apocenters. Hence, it is likely that M31 has had a much more prolonged accretion history than the Milky Way. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..