Identifying Dwarfs of MC Analog GalaxiEs (ID-MAGE): The Search for Satellites around Low-mass Hosts Article Swipe
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· 2025
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ade9a4
· OA: W4412993668
We present results from Identifying Dwarfs of MC Analog GalaxiEs (ID-MAGE), a survey aimed at identifying and characterizing unresolved satellite galaxies around 35 nearby LMC- and SMC-mass hosts ( D = 4−10 Mpc). We use archival DESI Legacy Survey imaging data and perform an extensive search for dwarf satellites, extending out to a radius of 150 kpc (∼ R vir ). We identify 355 candidate satellite galaxies, including 264 new discoveries. Extensive tests with injected galaxies demonstrate that the survey is complete down to M V ∼ −9.0 (assuming the distance of the host) and μ 0, V ∼ 26 mag arcsec −2 (assuming an n = 1 Sérsic profile). We perform consistent photometry, via Sérsic profile fitting, on all candidates and have initiated a comprehensive follow-up campaign to confirm and characterize candidates. Through a systematic visual inspection campaign, we classify the top candidates as high-likelihood satellites. On average, we find 4.0 ± 1.4 high-likelihood candidate satellites per LMC-mass host and 2.1 ± 0.6 per SMC-mass host, which is within the range predicted by cosmological models. We use this sample to establish upper and lower estimates on the satellite luminosity function of LMC-/SMC-mass galaxies. ID-MAGE nearly triples the number of low-mass galaxies surveyed for satellites with well-characterized completeness limits, providing a unique data set to explore small-scale structure and dwarf galaxy evolution around low-mass hosts in diverse environments.
