A determination of the Large Magellanic Cloud dark matter subhalo mass using the Milky Way halo stars in its gravitational wake

¹ Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, University of La Plata, Paseo del Bosque S/N 1900, La Plata, Argentina
e-mail: kfushimi@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
² Dept. of Physics, University of La Plata, c.c. 67 1900, La Plata, Argentina
³ Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental, (IATE-CONICET), Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CONICET, CCT Córdoba, Laprida 854, X5000BGR Córdoba, Argentina

Received: 12 July 2023
Accepted: 10 May 2024

Abstract

Aims. Our goal is to study the gravitational effects caused by the passage of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in its orbit on the stellar halo of the Milky Way.

Methods. We employed Gaia Data Release 3 to construct a halo tracers dataset consisting of K-giant stars and RR-Lyrae variables. Additionally, we compared the data with a theoretical model to estimate the dark matter subhalo mass.

Results. We have improved the characterisation of the local wake and the collective response due to the LMC’s orbit. We have also estimated for the first time the dark subhalo mass of the LMC to be of the order of 1.7 × 10¹¹ M_⊙, which is comparable to previously reported values in the literature.