Letter to the Editor

Discussing the first velocity dispersion profile of an ultra-diffuse galaxy in MOND

Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg (ObAS), UMR 7550, 67000 Strasbourg, France
e-mail: bilek@astro.unistra.fr

Received: 4 May 2019
Accepted: 3 June 2019

Abstract

Using Jeans modeling, we calculated the velocity dispersion profile of the ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) Dragonfly 44 in MOND. For the nominal mass-to-light ratio from the literature and an isotropic profile, the agreement with the data is excellent near the center of the galaxy. However, in modified gravity, close to the cluster core, the gravitational environment should bring the galaxy back toward Newtonian behavior. The success of the isolated MOND prediction for the central velocity dispersion could then mean that the galaxy is at a great distance (≫5 Mpc) from the cluster core, as hinted by the fact that nearby UDGs share similar velocities with a dispersion well below that of the cluster itself. There is, however, a 2σ tension in the outer part of the UDG due to an increase in the observed dispersion profile with respect to the flat MOND prediction. This deviation could simply be a measurement error. Other possibilities could be, for a UDG far from the cluster, a higher-than-nominal baryonic mass with a tangentially anisotropic dispersion profile or it could even be a dark baryonic halo. If the UDG is closer to the cluster core, the deviation could be a sign that it is in the process of disruption.