The DECam MAGIC Survey: Uncovering the Tidal Tails of the Crater II Dwarf Galaxy

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Abstract
Crater II (CraII), a large and low-density dwarf spheroidal galaxy, has unusual observed properties that are difficult to reproduce in cold dark matter simulations. Ongoing tidal disruption may help explain the discrepancies, as evidenced by the recent discovery of tidal tails. Here we present metallicity-sensitive narrowband photometry of the Ca II H and K lines from the Dark Energy Camera, covering 128 deg 2 across the center and identified tidal tails of CraII as part of the Mapping the Ancient Galaxy in CaHK survey. Our combined photometric metallicity, color–magnitude, proper motion, and parallax selections identify 162 CraII candidates. Of these, 37 candidates are located in the tidal tails, which extend at least 7° (∼95 kpc) from the center of CraII, suggesting it has lost ≳25% of its initial stellar mass. We confirm low contamination rates with dedicated control fields and highlight the extremely low surface brightness stellar features that can be uncovered with CaHK data, as faint as ∼36 mag arcsec −2 . We also make the first detection of a metallicity gradient (−0.34 ± 0.17 dex deg −1 ) in the center of the galaxy and infer a stream width of w ∼ 0 . ° 8, roughly 50% larger than the CraII half-light radius. The detection of candidates in the most distant CraII pointings from its center implies that the tidal tails extend beyond our footprint. We compare the CraII stream to N -body models with “cored” and “cuspy” dark matter halo progenitors, determining that CraII’s density profile is still ambiguous and warrants further modeling.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (2234693)
  • National Science Foundation (DGE2139841)
  • National Science Foundation (AST-2205863)
  • National Science Foundation (2508746)
  • National Science Foundation (AST2508745)
  • DOE ∣ SC ∣ Fermilab (L2019-011)
  • National Science Foundation (AST-2108168)
  • National Science Foundation (AST-2108169)
  • National Science Foundation (AST-2307126)
  • National Science Foundation (AST-2407526)

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