2008/06/30 by Massimo Ricotti · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Dwarf galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Intergalactic travel #Milky Way #Physics #Population #Redshift #Reionization #Star formation #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00586.x
published as M. Ricotti, 2009 MNRAS, 392, L45 · 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted version MNRAS 392, L45
openalex publication_date 2008/11/28 · arxiv created 2009/08/05 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract In this Letter, we revisit the idea of reionization feedback on dwarf galaxy formation. We show that primordial minihaloes with vcir < 20 km s−1 stop accreting gas after reionization, as it is usually assumed, but in virtue of their increasing concentration and the decreasing temperature of the intergalactic medium as redshift decreases below z= 3, they have a late phase of gas accretion and possibly star formation. We expect that pre-reionization fossils that evolved on the outskirts of the Milky Way or in isolation show a bimodal star formation history with 12- and <10-Gyr old population of stars. Leo T fits with this scenario. Another prediction of the model is the possible existence of a population of gas-rich minihaloes that never formed stars. More work is needed to understand whether a subset of compact high-velocity clouds can be identified as such objects or whether an undiscovered population of dark galaxies exists in the voids between galaxies.