Group-scale intrinsic galaxy alignments in the Illustris-TNG and MassiveBlack-II simulations

ABSTRACT We study the alignments of satellite galaxies, and their anisotropic distribution, with respect to location and orientation of their host central galaxy in MassiveBlack-II (MB-II) and IllustrisTNG simulations. We find that: the shape of the satellite system in haloes of mass (10^13\, h^-1\, M) is well aligned with the shape of the central galaxy at z = 0. 06 with the mean alignment between the major axes being ∼Δθ = 12° when compared to a uniform random distribution; that satellite galaxies tend to be anisotropically distributed along the major axis of the central galaxy with a stronger alignment in haloes of higher mass or luminosity; and that the satellite distribution is more anisotropic for central galaxies with lower star formation rate, which are spheroidal, and for red central galaxies. Radially, we find that satellites tend to be distributed along the major axis of the shape of the stellar component of central galaxies at smaller scales and the dark matter component on larger scales. We find that the dependence of satellite anisotropy on central galaxy properties and the radial distance is similar in both the simulations with a larger amplitude in MB-II. The orientation of satellite galaxies tends to point toward the location of the central galaxy at small scales and this correlation decreases with increasing distance, and the amplitude of satellite alignment is higher in high-mass haloes. However, the projected ellipticities do not exhibit a scale-dependent radial alignment, as has been seen in some observational measurements.