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J. Nibauer

Publications and source records attributed to J. Nibauer.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1): The geometry of dark matter halos from extragalactic streams

Wide-field surveys like Euclid mark a new era of extragalactic stellar stream studies. With a large number of streams, it is now possible to constrain the dark matter halos of galaxies in a cosmological volume and draw comparisons to theoretical expectations for the geometry of dark matter halos. This study combines Euclid imaging with visual detection and segmentation annotations to analyse streams. We use projected stream morphologies to constrain the shape and centre-of-mass position (CoM) of each host galaxy's potential, jointly probing baryonic and dark matter distributions. These inferences complement weak lensing methods, with sensitivity to halo profile and geometry on sub-virial scales. The method enables both stacked, population-level constraints on halo flattening and CoM position, and constraints on these quantities for individual halos. We also present a novel method for transforming segmentation maps of stellar streams into smooth, curvature-preserving tracks optimised for fast and robust dynamical inference. This approach enables rapid modelling of stream morphology, supports a statistically rigorous combination of constraints across multiple streams within a single galaxy, and enables joint inference across galactic hosts. From our study of 13 galaxies with prominent tidal streams, we find agreement with spherical halos, albeit a mild preference for flattening with $q = 0.95^{+0.05}_{-0.10}$ at 68\% confidence. This is promising early agreement with $\Lambda$CDM predictions. With thousands more discovered streams expected across \Euclid's mission, our programme will enable precise measurements of halo shapes and CoM positions across large samples and redshifts, offering constraints on the geometry of dark matter halos.

astro-ph.GA

STRRINGS: STReams in Residual Images of Nearby GalaxieS

Tidal features from galaxy mergers, particularly stellar streams, offer valuable insights into galaxy assembly and dark matter halo properties. This paper aims to identify a large sample of nearby stellar streams suitable for detailed modelling and comparison with simulations to enable population-level constraints on halo properties. We visually inspect and compile a tidal feature catalogue for $19,387$ galaxies with redshift $z \leq 0.02$ from the Siena Galaxy Atlas 2020 using original, model, and residual images from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. Residual images, produced by subtracting models of all sources, enhance the detectability of faint asymmetries such as tidal features. We find that $11.9 \pm 0.2\%$ of galaxies host detectable tidal features, more frequently around early-type than late-type galaxies. The tidal feature fraction increases with stellar mass, from $2.4 \pm 0.4\%$ at $\sim10^8$M$_\odot$ to $36.5 \pm 1.2\%$ at $\sim 5\times10^{11}$M$_\odot$. From this, we present the first release of STRRINGS: STReams in Residual Images of Nearby GalaxieS, a subsample of 35 galaxies with long, narrow streams suitable for modelling. We segment these streams and derive their geometry, surface brightness, colours, and stellar masses. The median $g$-band surface brightness is 26.8 mag$\,$arcsec$^{-2}$, reaching 27.5 mag$\,$arcsec$^{-2}$ for the faintest stream. Mass ratios are consistent with minor mergers, and we identify five potential dwarf galaxy progenitors. Our streams are typically longer (median 124 kpc) than the literature, with comparable widths. Stream mass correlates with length and colour, and wider streams lie at larger galactocentric radii. STRRINGS will be expanded and used to constrain halo properties in future work.

astro-ph.GA