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Published July 1, 2006 | Published
Journal Article Open

Detection of a 60°-long dwarf galaxy debris stream

Abstract

We report on a 60°-long stream of stars, extending from Ursa Major to Sextans, in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The stream is approximately 2° wide and is clearly distinct from the northern tidal arm of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. The apparent width of the stream indicates a progenitor with a size and mass similar to that of a dwarf galaxy. The stream is about 21 kpc distant and appears to be oriented almost perpendicular to our line of sight. The visible portion of the stream does not pass near any known dwarf galaxies, although we cannot rule out that the stream may form the inner part of a known dwarf galaxy's orbit. The most likely explanation is that the stream constitutes the remains of a dwarf galaxy that has been completely disrupted at some point in the past. We also briefly report on the discovery of a diminutive Galactic satellite that lies near the projected path of the new stream but is unlikely to be related to it.

Additional Information

© 2006 American Astronomical Society. Received 2006 April 20; accepted 2006 May 16; published 2006 June 23. Print publication: Issue 1 (2006 July 1). Funding for the creation and distribution of the SDSS Archive has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, and the Max Planck Society. Facilities: Sloan

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August 22, 2023
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