I'm just a slightly confused undergrad looking for some clarification regarding the minimum resolved mass for galaxies in the TNG50-1 run.
In my project I'm working with dwarf galaxies, and when I use all mass ranges (i.e. some as as low as 1000 stellar MSun), I get very strange results, which I assume has to do with low mass (sub)halos being unresolved.
Thus I'm looking to apply a cut (lower mass threshold) on the mass, and from Pilepich et al. 2019 and Nelson et al. 2019 I've gathered that the minimum resolved (stellar) mass is around 10^7 or 10^8 MSun, however I'm just wondering whether there is a more precise generally agreed upon value at which to apply the cut in TNG50-1, or whether this is something I should decide for myself? (And also whether there is any difference in this value for halos as opposed to subhalos?)
Thank you most kindly for your time!
Dylan Nelson
11 Jun
You're correct, this is something you should decide yourself, it depends on the specific science question that you're asking. With TNG50-1 we would generally go down to 1e8 or 1e7 Msun stellar mass, as you say. These are marginally resolved galaxies, so you wouldn't want to do detailed i.e. spatially resolved analyses of such systems. However, you could certainly do demographics i.e. counting down to these masses, or even a bit lower.
Hello,
I'm just a slightly confused undergrad looking for some clarification regarding the minimum resolved mass for galaxies in the TNG50-1 run.
In my project I'm working with dwarf galaxies, and when I use all mass ranges (i.e. some as as low as 1000 stellar MSun), I get very strange results, which I assume has to do with low mass (sub)halos being unresolved.
Thus I'm looking to apply a cut (lower mass threshold) on the mass, and from Pilepich et al. 2019 and Nelson et al. 2019 I've gathered that the minimum resolved (stellar) mass is around 10^7 or 10^8 MSun, however I'm just wondering whether there is a more precise generally agreed upon value at which to apply the cut in TNG50-1, or whether this is something I should decide for myself? (And also whether there is any difference in this value for halos as opposed to subhalos?)
Thank you most kindly for your time!
You're correct, this is something you should decide yourself, it depends on the specific science question that you're asking. With TNG50-1 we would generally go down to 1e8 or 1e7 Msun stellar mass, as you say. These are marginally resolved galaxies, so you wouldn't want to do detailed i.e. spatially resolved analyses of such systems. However, you could certainly do demographics i.e. counting down to these masses, or even a bit lower.