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DELVE Milky Way Satellite Galaxy Census I: Satellite Population and Survey Selection Function in DES, DELVE, and Pan-STARRS

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Main Authors:	Tan, C. Y., Drlica-Wagner, A., Pace, A. B., Cerny, W., Nadler, E. O., Doliva-Dolinsky, A., Anbajagane, D., Li, T. S., Simon, J. D., Vivas, A. K., Walker, A. R., Adamów, M., Bechtol, K., Carlin, J. L., Casey, Q. O., Chang, C., Chaturvedi, A., Cheng, T. -Y., Chiti, A., Choi, Y., Crnojević, D., Ferguson, P. S., Gruendl, R. A., Ji, A. P., Limberg, G., Medina, G. E., Mutlu-Pakdil, B., Noël, N. E. D., Overdeck, K., Placco, V. M., Riley, A. H., Sand, D. J., Sharp, J., Sherman, N. F., Stringfellow, G. S., Wechsler, R. H., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Alves, O., Bacon, D., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Camilleri, R., Carballo-Bello, J. A., Rosell, A. Carnero, Carretero, J., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. da Silva, Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Everett, S., Flaugher, B., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gruen, D., Gutierrez, G., Herner, K., Hinton, S. R., Hollowood, D. L., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Lahav, O., Lee, S., Marshall, J. L., Martínez-Vázquez, C. E., Massana, P., Mena-Fernández, J., Miquel, R., Muir, J., Myles, J., Ogando, R. L. C., Malagón, A. A. Plazas, Porredon, A., Sanchez, E., Cid, D. Sanchez, Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., To, C., Tollerud, E. J., Tucker, D. L., Vikram, V., Weaverdyck, N., Yamamoto, M., Zenteno, A.
Format:	Preprint
Published:	2025
Subjects:	Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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author	Tan, C. Y. Drlica-Wagner, A. Pace, A. B. Cerny, W. Nadler, E. O. Doliva-Dolinsky, A. Anbajagane, D. Li, T. S. Simon, J. D. Vivas, A. K. Walker, A. R. Adamów, M. Bechtol, K. Carlin, J. L. Casey, Q. O. Chang, C. Chaturvedi, A. Cheng, T. -Y. Chiti, A. Choi, Y. Crnojević, D. Ferguson, P. S. Gruendl, R. A. Ji, A. P. Limberg, G. Medina, G. E. Mutlu-Pakdil, B. Noël, N. E. D. Overdeck, K. Placco, V. M. Riley, A. H. Sand, D. J. Sharp, J. Sherman, N. F. Stringfellow, G. S. Wechsler, R. H. Aguena, M. Allam, S. Alves, O. Bacon, D. Brooks, D. Burke, D. L. Camilleri, R. Carballo-Bello, J. A. Rosell, A. Carnero Carretero, J. da Costa, L. N. Pereira, M. E. da Silva Davis, T. M. De Vicente, J. Desai, S. Everett, S. Flaugher, B. Frieman, J. García-Bellido, J. Gruen, D. Gutierrez, G. Herner, K. Hinton, S. R. Hollowood, D. L. James, D. J. Kuehn, K. Lahav, O. Lee, S. Marshall, J. L. Martínez-Vázquez, C. E. Massana, P. Mena-Fernández, J. Miquel, R. Muir, J. Myles, J. Ogando, R. L. C. Malagón, A. A. Plazas Porredon, A. Sanchez, E. Cid, D. Sanchez Sevilla-Noarbe, I. Smith, M. Suchyta, E. Swanson, M. E. C. To, C. Tollerud, E. J. Tucker, D. L. Vikram, V. Weaverdyck, N. Yamamoto, M. Zenteno, A.
author_facet	Tan, C. Y. Drlica-Wagner, A. Pace, A. B. Cerny, W. Nadler, E. O. Doliva-Dolinsky, A. Anbajagane, D. Li, T. S. Simon, J. D. Vivas, A. K. Walker, A. R. Adamów, M. Bechtol, K. Carlin, J. L. Casey, Q. O. Chang, C. Chaturvedi, A. Cheng, T. -Y. Chiti, A. Choi, Y. Crnojević, D. Ferguson, P. S. Gruendl, R. A. Ji, A. P. Limberg, G. Medina, G. E. Mutlu-Pakdil, B. Noël, N. E. D. Overdeck, K. Placco, V. M. Riley, A. H. Sand, D. J. Sharp, J. Sherman, N. F. Stringfellow, G. S. Wechsler, R. H. Aguena, M. Allam, S. Alves, O. Bacon, D. Brooks, D. Burke, D. L. Camilleri, R. Carballo-Bello, J. A. Rosell, A. Carnero Carretero, J. da Costa, L. N. Pereira, M. E. da Silva Davis, T. M. De Vicente, J. Desai, S. Everett, S. Flaugher, B. Frieman, J. García-Bellido, J. Gruen, D. Gutierrez, G. Herner, K. Hinton, S. R. Hollowood, D. L. James, D. J. Kuehn, K. Lahav, O. Lee, S. Marshall, J. L. Martínez-Vázquez, C. E. Massana, P. Mena-Fernández, J. Miquel, R. Muir, J. Myles, J. Ogando, R. L. C. Malagón, A. A. Plazas Porredon, A. Sanchez, E. Cid, D. Sanchez Sevilla-Noarbe, I. Smith, M. Suchyta, E. Swanson, M. E. C. To, C. Tollerud, E. J. Tucker, D. L. Vikram, V. Weaverdyck, N. Yamamoto, M. Zenteno, A.
contents	The properties of Milky Way satellite galaxies have important implications for galaxy formation, reionization, and the fundamental physics of dark matter. However, the population of Milky Way satellites includes the faintest known galaxies, and current observations are incomplete. To understand the impact of observational selection effects on the known satellite population, we perform rigorous, quantitative estimates of the Milky Way satellite galaxy detection efficiency in three wide-field survey datasets: the Dark Energy Survey Year 6, the DECam Local Volume Exploration Data Release 3, and the Pan-STARRS1 Data Release 1. Together, these surveys cover $\sim$13,600 deg$^2$ to $g \sim 24.0$ and $\sim$27,700 deg$^2$ to $g \sim 22.5$, spanning $\sim$91% of the high-Galactic-latitude sky ($\|b\| \geq 15^\circ$). We apply multiple detection algorithms over the combined footprint and recover 49 known satellites above a strict census detection threshold. To characterize the sensitivity of our census, we run our detection algorithms on a large set of simulated galaxies injected into the survey data, which allows us to develop models that predict the detectability of satellites as a function of their properties. We then fit an empirical model to our data and infer the luminosity function, radial distribution, and size-luminosity relation of Milky Way satellite galaxies. Our empirical model predicts a total of $265^{+79}_{-47}$ satellite galaxies with $-20 \leq M_V \leq 0$, half-light radii of $15 \leq r_{1/2} (\rm pc) \leq 3000$, and galactocentric distances of $10 \leq D_{\rm GC} (\rm kpc) \leq 300$. We also identify a mild anisotropy in the angular distribution of the observed galaxies, at a significance of $\sim$$2σ$, which can be attributed to the clustering of satellites associated with the LMC.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_12313
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2025
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	DELVE Milky Way Satellite Galaxy Census I: Satellite Population and Survey Selection Function in DES, DELVE, and Pan-STARRS Tan, C. Y. Drlica-Wagner, A. Pace, A. B. Cerny, W. Nadler, E. O. Doliva-Dolinsky, A. Anbajagane, D. Li, T. S. Simon, J. D. Vivas, A. K. Walker, A. R. Adamów, M. Bechtol, K. Carlin, J. L. Casey, Q. O. Chang, C. Chaturvedi, A. Cheng, T. -Y. Chiti, A. Choi, Y. Crnojević, D. Ferguson, P. S. Gruendl, R. A. Ji, A. P. Limberg, G. Medina, G. E. Mutlu-Pakdil, B. Noël, N. E. D. Overdeck, K. Placco, V. M. Riley, A. H. Sand, D. J. Sharp, J. Sherman, N. F. Stringfellow, G. S. Wechsler, R. H. Aguena, M. Allam, S. Alves, O. Bacon, D. Brooks, D. Burke, D. L. Camilleri, R. Carballo-Bello, J. A. Rosell, A. Carnero Carretero, J. da Costa, L. N. Pereira, M. E. da Silva Davis, T. M. De Vicente, J. Desai, S. Everett, S. Flaugher, B. Frieman, J. García-Bellido, J. Gruen, D. Gutierrez, G. Herner, K. Hinton, S. R. Hollowood, D. L. James, D. J. Kuehn, K. Lahav, O. Lee, S. Marshall, J. L. Martínez-Vázquez, C. E. Massana, P. Mena-Fernández, J. Miquel, R. Muir, J. Myles, J. Ogando, R. L. C. Malagón, A. A. Plazas Porredon, A. Sanchez, E. Cid, D. Sanchez Sevilla-Noarbe, I. Smith, M. Suchyta, E. Swanson, M. E. C. To, C. Tollerud, E. J. Tucker, D. L. Vikram, V. Weaverdyck, N. Yamamoto, M. Zenteno, A. Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics The properties of Milky Way satellite galaxies have important implications for galaxy formation, reionization, and the fundamental physics of dark matter. However, the population of Milky Way satellites includes the faintest known galaxies, and current observations are incomplete. To understand the impact of observational selection effects on the known satellite population, we perform rigorous, quantitative estimates of the Milky Way satellite galaxy detection efficiency in three wide-field survey datasets: the Dark Energy Survey Year 6, the DECam Local Volume Exploration Data Release 3, and the Pan-STARRS1 Data Release 1. Together, these surveys cover $\sim$13,600 deg$^2$ to $g \sim 24.0$ and $\sim$27,700 deg$^2$ to $g \sim 22.5$, spanning $\sim$91% of the high-Galactic-latitude sky ($\|b\| \geq 15^\circ$). We apply multiple detection algorithms over the combined footprint and recover 49 known satellites above a strict census detection threshold. To characterize the sensitivity of our census, we run our detection algorithms on a large set of simulated galaxies injected into the survey data, which allows us to develop models that predict the detectability of satellites as a function of their properties. We then fit an empirical model to our data and infer the luminosity function, radial distribution, and size-luminosity relation of Milky Way satellite galaxies. Our empirical model predicts a total of $265^{+79}_{-47}$ satellite galaxies with $-20 \leq M_V \leq 0$, half-light radii of $15 \leq r_{1/2} (\rm pc) \leq 3000$, and galactocentric distances of $10 \leq D_{\rm GC} (\rm kpc) \leq 300$. We also identify a mild anisotropy in the angular distribution of the observed galaxies, at a significance of $\sim$$2σ$, which can be attributed to the clustering of satellites associated with the LMC.
title	DELVE Milky Way Satellite Galaxy Census I: Satellite Population and Survey Selection Function in DES, DELVE, and Pan-STARRS
topic	Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12313