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GALAXY EVOLUTION

Ultra-diffuse galaxies on the run

Nature Astronomy volume 5, pages 1208–1209 (2021)Cite this article

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Cosmological simulation TNG50 reveals that a recently discovered population of isolated but non-star-forming ultra-diffuse galaxies may have been gas-rich satellites of much more massive galaxies in the distant past.

A galaxy’s surroundings play a critical role in its evolution. Galaxies in densely populated environments tend to have older, redder stellar populations and rounder shapes, whereas isolated galaxies are often rich in gas and have disky or irregular morphologies traced out by populations of young blue stars1,2. Writing in Nature Astronomy, José Benavides and collaborators3 report the origins of a population of isolated red galaxies that have gone undetected until very recently. Using the state-of-the-art TNG50 cosmological simulation (part of the IllustrisTNG project), they identify a population of unusually extended galaxies — part of the broader class known as ultra-diffuse galaxies — that managed to escape from dense environments, but lost the gaseous reservoirs they needed to continue forming stars in the process.

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Fig. 1: An ultra-diffuse galaxy evolves as it travels along an unbound backsplash orbit.

adapted with permission from ref. 3, Springer Nature Ltd.

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  1. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Anna C. Wright

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  1. Anna C. Wright
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Correspondence to Anna C. Wright.

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Wright, A.C. Ultra-diffuse galaxies on the run. Nat Astron 5, 1208–1209 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01485-y

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