The Study of Detailed Morphology of Milky Way Dwarf Galaxies: Draco and Boötes I

RESUMO

We present a photometric study of the outer stellar structures of the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) Draco and Boötes I, using deep wide-field imaging data. The old main-sequence stars are used to trace their spatial distributions beyond their tidal radii. We derive global structural parameters and radial profiles of number density, ellipticity, and position angle from their stellar distributions. Draco and Boötes I show contrasting features. Draco shows no prominent extended stellar distribution, although weak elongations are detected toward the eastern and northwestern directions. Its stellar distribution remains relatively compact compared with its estimated Jacobi tidal radius ($r_J=57.2^{+13.5}_{-11.1}$ arcmin), suggesting that the stellar component is tightly bound by its gravitational potential. In contrast, the radial number-density profiles of Boötes I along several directions show excess from the best-fit exponential profile outside of around $r\sim20$ arcmin, near the estimated Jacobi radius ($r_J=21.6^{+9.3}_{-7.6}$ arcmin). In addition, the ellipticity of Draco decreases with radius, whereas that of Boötes I increases toward larger radii. Bo"otes I also exhibits a prominent S-shaped stellar structure extending approximately along its orbital direction. Together, the radial density excess, increasing ellipticity, and S-shaped morphology suggest that the outer stellar structure of Boötes I may trace tidal tails produced by interactions with the Milky Way. The contrasting morphologies of Draco and Boötes I further suggest that the response of dwarf galaxies to the Milky Way tidal field may depend not only on their orbital histories, but also on the internal structure of their dark-matter halos.