Messier 81's Planck view vs its halo mapping

Abstract

This paper is a follow-up of a previous paper about the M82 galaxy and its halo based on Planck observations. As in the case of M82, so also for the M81 galaxy a substantial North-South and East-West temperature asymmetry is found, extending up to galactocentric distances of about $1.5^\circ$. The temperature asymmetry is almost frequency independent and can be interpreted as a Doppler-induced effect related to the M81 halo rotation and/or triggered by the gravitational interaction of the galaxies within the M81 Group. Along with the analogous study of several nearby edge-on spiral galaxies, the CMB temperature asymmetry method thus is shown to act as a direct tool to map the galactic haloes and/or the intergalactic bridges, invisible in other bands or by other methods.

5 pages, 3 figures, in press in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Main Journal