A determination of the Large Magellanic Cloud dark matter subhalo mass using the Milky Way halo stars in its gravitational wake

Abstract

Aims. Our goal is to study the gravitational effects caused by the passage of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in its orbit on the stellar halo of the Milky Way. Methods. We employed Gaia Data Release 3 to construct a halo tracers dataset consisting of K-giant stars and RR-Lyrae variables. Additionally, we compared the data with a theoretical model to estimate the dark matter subhalo mass. Results. We have improved the characterisation of the local wake and the collective response due to the LMC’s orbit. We have also estimated for the first time the dark subhalo mass of the LMC to be of the order of 1.7 × 1011 M⊙, which is comparable to previously reported values in the literature.