Anisotropy of Satellite Galaxies-I: Contrasting Correlations with Central Galaxy, Host Halo, and Large-Scale Filament Structures

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Hauptverfasser: Zhang, Zhuoming, Cui, Weiguang, Chen, Yun, Davé, Romeel, Kraljic, Katarina
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Zhang, Zhuoming
Cui, Weiguang
Chen, Yun
Davé, Romeel
Kraljic, Katarina
author_facet Zhang, Zhuoming
Cui, Weiguang
Chen, Yun
Davé, Romeel
Kraljic, Katarina
contents Using the SIMBA, EAGLE, and IllustrisTNG-100 galaxy formation simulations, we examine the anisotropy of the satellite distribution and its dependencies on central galaxies, host halos, and cosmic filaments. We find that in all simulations the satellite anisotropy is robustly aligned with the halo/central galaxy major axis. This correlation is both redshift- and halo-mass-dependent and also extends to filamentary structures outside the halo to several virial radii. The alignment persists up to $z=1.5$ at high redshifts, and the mass dependence remains down to $M_\mathrm{200c} \approx 10^{11}M_{\odot}$. We identify a clear $3σ$ scale-dependent transition in the structural tracers of satellite anisotropy: satellite distributions correlate with central galaxy morphology at small scales ($<0.3R_{\rm 200c}$), are governed by host halo triaxiality at halo scales ($0.3$-$2R_{\rm 200c}$), and align with cosmic filaments beyond $2R_{\rm 200c}$. By tracing satellite trajectories in SIMBA, we uncover the kinematic origin of this transition, demonstrating that satellites prefer halo major-axis aligned regions because their trajectories intersect this axis far more frequently and stay in it for a longer time under the host's gravitational potential. This dynamical processing effectively erases primordial filament-related signals upon accretion ($<2R_{\rm 200c}$), explaining the shift in dominant structural tracers across scales.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_27845
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Anisotropy of Satellite Galaxies-I: Contrasting Correlations with Central Galaxy, Host Halo, and Large-Scale Filament Structures
Zhang, Zhuoming
Cui, Weiguang
Chen, Yun
Davé, Romeel
Kraljic, Katarina
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Using the SIMBA, EAGLE, and IllustrisTNG-100 galaxy formation simulations, we examine the anisotropy of the satellite distribution and its dependencies on central galaxies, host halos, and cosmic filaments. We find that in all simulations the satellite anisotropy is robustly aligned with the halo/central galaxy major axis. This correlation is both redshift- and halo-mass-dependent and also extends to filamentary structures outside the halo to several virial radii. The alignment persists up to $z=1.5$ at high redshifts, and the mass dependence remains down to $M_\mathrm{200c} \approx 10^{11}M_{\odot}$. We identify a clear $3σ$ scale-dependent transition in the structural tracers of satellite anisotropy: satellite distributions correlate with central galaxy morphology at small scales ($<0.3R_{\rm 200c}$), are governed by host halo triaxiality at halo scales ($0.3$-$2R_{\rm 200c}$), and align with cosmic filaments beyond $2R_{\rm 200c}$. By tracing satellite trajectories in SIMBA, we uncover the kinematic origin of this transition, demonstrating that satellites prefer halo major-axis aligned regions because their trajectories intersect this axis far more frequently and stay in it for a longer time under the host's gravitational potential. This dynamical processing effectively erases primordial filament-related signals upon accretion ($<2R_{\rm 200c}$), explaining the shift in dominant structural tracers across scales.
title Anisotropy of Satellite Galaxies-I: Contrasting Correlations with Central Galaxy, Host Halo, and Large-Scale Filament Structures
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.27845