Four new stellar debris streams in the galactic halo
- Creators
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Grillmair, C. J.
Abstract
We report on the detection of four new stellar debris streams and a new dwarf galaxy candidate in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Three of the streams, ranging between 3 and 15 kpc in distance and spanning between 37° and 84° on the sky, are very narrow and are most probably tidal streams originating in extant or disrupted globular clusters. The fourth stream is much broader, roughly 45 kpc distant, at least 53° in length, and is most likely the tidal debris from a dwarf galaxy. As each of the streams spans multiple constellations, we extend tradition and designate them the Acheron, Cocytos, Lethe, and Styx streams. At the same distance and apparently embedded in the Styx stream is a ~1 kpc wide concentration of stars with an apparently similar color-magnitude distribution, which we designate Bootes III. Given its very low surface density, its location within the stream, and its apparently disturbed morphology, we argue that Bootes III may be the progenitor of Styx and in possibly the final throes of tidal dissolution. While the current data do not permit strong constraints, preliminary orbit estimates for the streams do not point to any likely progenitors among the known globular clusters and dwarf galaxies.
Additional Information
© 2009 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2008 May 5; accepted 2008 November 19; published 2009 March 5. The author is grateful to an anonymous referee for numerous recommendations that greatly improved both the presentation and the quality of the results. Funding for the SDSS and SDSSII has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The SDSS Web site is http://www.sdss.org/. The SDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions. The Participating Institutions are the American Museum of Natural History, Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, University of Basel, University of Cambridge, Case Western Reserve University, University of Chicago, Drexel University, Fermilab, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Japan Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, the Korean Scientist Group, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMOST), Los Alamos National Laboratory, theMax-Planck- Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), New Mexico State University, Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the United States Naval Observatory, and the University of Washington. Facilities: Sloan.Attached Files
Published - Grillmair2009p1025Astrophys_J.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 13946
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20090413-092349266
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Participating Institutions
- NSF
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- NASA
- Japanese Monbukagakusho
- Max Planck Society
- Higher Education Funding Council for England
- Created
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2009-04-30Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)