The Smith Cloud: high-velocity accretion and dark-matter confinement
  The Smith Cloud is a massive system of metal-poor neutral and ionized gas
M_gas >= 2x10^6 M_sun) that is presently moving at high velocity (V_GSR ~300 km
s^-1) with respect to the Galaxy at a distance of 12 kpc from the Sun. The
kinematics of the cloud's cometary tail indicates that the gas is in the
process of accretion onto the Galaxy, as first discussed by Lockman et al.
(2008). Here, we re-investigate the cloud's orbit by considering the
possibility that the cloud is confined by a dark matter halo. This is required
for the cloud to survive its passage through the Galactic corona. We consider
three possible models for the dark matter halo (NFW, Einasto, Burkert)
including the effects of tidal disruption and ram-pressure stripping during the
cloud's infall onto and passage through the Galactic disk. For the NFW and
Einasto dark-matter models, we are able to determine reasonable initial
conditions for the Smith Cloud, although this is only marginally possible with
the Burkert model. For all three models, the progenitor had an initial
(gas+dark matter) mass that was an order of magnitude higher than inferred
today. In agreement with Lockman et al. (2008), the cloud appears to have
punched through the disk ~70 Myr ago. For our most successful models, the
baryon to dark matter ratio is fairly constant during an orbital period but
drops by a factor of 2-5 after transiting the disk. The cloud appears to have
only marginally survived its transit, and is unlikely to retain its integrity
during the next transit ~30 Myr from now.
