Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions of Faint Photometric Satellites around Spectroscopic Central Galaxies from DESI Year-1 Bright Galaxy Survey

Abstract We measure the luminosity functions (LFs) and stellar mass functions (SMFs) of photometric satellite galaxies around spectroscopically identified isolated central galaxies (ICGs). The photometric satellites are from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (DR9), while the spectroscopic ICGs are selected from the DESI Year-1 BGS sample. We can measure satellite LFs down to r -band absolute magnitudes of M r ,sat ∼ −7, around ICGs as small as <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>7.1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ICG</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>7.8</mml:mn> </mml:math> , with the stellar mass of ICGs measured by the DESI F astspecfit pipeline. The satellite SMF can be measured down to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">sat</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> <mml:mn>5.5</mml:mn> </mml:math> . Interestingly, we discover that the faint/low-mass end slopes of satellite LFs/SMFs become steeper with the decrease in the stellar masses of host ICGs, with smaller and nearby host ICGs capable of being used to probe their fainter satellites. The steepest slopes can be −2.298 ± 0.656 and −2.888 ± 0.916 for satellite LF and SMF, respectively. Detailed comparisons are performed between the satellite LFs around ICGs selected from DESI BGS or from the SDSS NYU-VAGC spectroscopic Main galaxies over <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>7.1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ICG</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>11.7</mml:mn> </mml:math> , showing reasonable agreement, but we show that differences between DESI and SDSS stellar masses for ICGs play a role to affect the results. We also compare measurements based on DESI F astspecfit and C igale stellar masses used to bin ICGs, with the latter including the modeling of active galactic nuclei based on Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer photometry, and we find good agreements in the measured satellite LFs by using either of the DESI stellar mass catalogs.

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Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2025-06-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add5df
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2
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Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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article
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2.31
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article

Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions of Faint Photometric Satellites around Spectroscopic Central Galaxies from DESI Year-1 Bright Galaxy Survey

Yizhou Gu, Kun Xu, S. Nadathur, S. Moore et al.
2 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
2.31
article

Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions of Faint Photometric Satellites around Spectroscopic Central Galaxies from DESI Year-1 Bright Galaxy Survey

Yizhou Gu, Kun Xu, S. Nadathur, S. Moore, Xiaohu Yang, Gregory Tarlé, Jiaxin Han, Carlos S. Frenk, Laurent Le Guillou, David Sprayberry, David J. Schlegel, Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols, Axel de la Macorra, Shaun Cole, Marc Manera, Gaston Gutierrez, Davide Bianchi, J. Aguilar, Eusebio Sanchez, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, Oleg Y. Gnedin, Ashley J. Ross, ENRIQUE GAZTAÑAGA, K. Honscheid, M. Siudek, J. Silber, Arjun T. Dey, Steven P. Ahlen, Aaron Meisner, Sergey E. Koposov, David H. Brooks, John Moustakas, Yipeng Jing, Mustapha Ishak, Wenting Wang, Yirong Wang, Hee‐Jong Seo, Jiaxi Yu, Claire Poppett, Hu Zou, Graziano Rossi, Martin Landriau, Benjamin A. Weaver, P. Doel, Ramon Miquel, J. E. Forero-Romero, Francisco Prada, Theodore Kisner, T. Claybaugh, Zhenlin Tan
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract We measure the luminosity functions (LFs) and stellar mass functions (SMFs) of photometric satellite galaxies around spectroscopically identified isolated central galaxies (ICGs). The photometric satellites are from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (DR9), while the spectroscopic ICGs are selected from the DESI Year-1 BGS sample. We can measure satellite LFs down to r -band absolute magnitudes of M r ,sat ∼ −7, around ICGs as small as <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>7.1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ICG</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>7.8</mml:mn> </mml:math> , with the stellar mass of ICGs measured by the DESI F astspecfit pipeline. The satellite SMF can be measured down to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">sat</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> <mml:mn>5.5</mml:mn> </mml:math> . Interestingly, we discover that the faint/low-mass end slopes of satellite LFs/SMFs become steeper with the decrease in the stellar masses of host ICGs, with smaller and nearby host ICGs capable of being used to probe their fainter satellites. The steepest slopes can be −2.298 ± 0.656 and −2.888 ± 0.916 for satellite LF and SMF, respectively. Detailed comparisons are performed between the satellite LFs around ICGs selected from DESI BGS or from the SDSS NYU-VAGC spectroscopic Main galaxies over <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>7.1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ICG</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>11.7</mml:mn> </mml:math> , showing reasonable agreement, but we show that differences between DESI and SDSS stellar masses for ICGs play a role to affect the results. We also compare measurements based on DESI F astspecfit and C igale stellar masses used to bin ICGs, with the latter including the modeling of active galactic nuclei based on Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer photometry, and we find good agreements in the measured satellite LFs by using either of the DESI stellar mass catalogs.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 986(2)
Boston University (US), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES), Universidad de Guanajuato (MX), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (US), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), Universidad de Los Andes (CO), The University of Texas at Dallas (US), Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México (MX), Université Sorbonne Nouvelle (FR), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), University of Milan (IT), Durham University (GB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), University of Cambridge (GB), University of Michigan (US), Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT), Sejong University (KR), Sorbonne Université (FR), Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES), Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (MX), Ohio University (US), Institute of Space Sciences (ES), Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (JP), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (ES), Community Science and Data Center (US), Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados (MX), NSF NOIRLab (US), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES), National Astronomical Observatories (CN), Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES), University College London (GB), The Ohio State University (US), New York University (US), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (MX), University of Portsmouth (GB), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES), Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (MX), University of Pennsylvania (US), National Institute for Astrophysics (IT), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Siena College (US), University of California, Berkeley (US), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES), University of Edinburgh (GB)
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Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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