Coral Wheeler
socialistscientist.bsky.social
Coral Wheeler
@socialistscientist.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Cal Poly Pomona. I run simulations of the Universe's tiniest galaxies.
Please check it out and let me know what you think! Many thanks to my amazing co-authors: ‪@jorgitomoreno.bsky.social‬, ‪@astronomerc.bsky.social‬, @katycosmiq.bsky.social ‪@jbprime.bsky.social‬, ‪@mbkplus.bsky.social‬, @astrogandhi.bsky.social, ‪@sloebman.bsky.social‬, (/end)
June 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Main takeaway: mass estimates of ultra-faint galaxies used to constrain dark-matter physics or to place constraints on the low-mass threshold of galaxy formation must take into account surface brightness limits or risk significant biases. (5/6)
June 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Failing to detect the stellar halo (SB cut; solid symbols) also increases the [Fe/H] of the simulated ultra-faints, but not enough to solve the discrepancy in the MZR at the lowest masses. (4/6)
June 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM
while biasing mass estimates too high. Left: Wolf+ 2010 mass estimates compared to NFW profiles. Right: mass estimates for the *same galaxies* if outer stars below a certain effective surface brightness are removed. The galaxies are incorrectly placed in more massive halos. (3/6)
June 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Since then, more and more stars at large half-light radii have been detected around observed ultra-faint galaxies.

In this latest paper, we explore how removing stars at large radii (SB Cut; solid symbols) leads to predicted UFD sizes that are closer to observations, (2/6)
June 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM