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  • Zucker, D B; Belokurov, V; Evans, N W; Wilkinson, M I; Irwin, M J; Sivarani, T; Hodgkin, S; Bramich, D M; Irwin, J M; Gilmore, G; Willman, B; Vidrih, S; Fellhauer, M; Hewett, P C; Beers, T C; Bell, E F; Grebel, E K; Schneider, D P; Newberg, H J; Wyse, R F G; Rockosi, C M; Yanny, B; Lupton, R; Smith, J A; Barentine, J C; Brewington, H; Brinkmann, J; Harvanek, M; Kleinman, S J; Krzesinski, J; Long, D; Nitta, A; Snedden, S A

    arXiv.org, 04/2006
    Paper

    In this Letter, we announce the discovery of a new dwarf satellite of the Milky Way, located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was found as a stellar overdensity in the North Galactic Cap using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 (SDSS DR5). The satellite's color-magnitude diagram shows a well-defined red giant branch, as well as a horizontal branch. As judged from the tip of the red giant branch, it lies at a distance of ~220 kpc. Based on the SDSS data, we estimate an absolute magnitude of Mv ~ -7.9, a central surface brightness of mu_0,V ~ 28 mag arcsecond^-2, and a half-light radius of \~ 8.5' (~ 550 pc at the measured distance). The outer regions of Canes Venatici appear extended and distorted. The discovery of such a faint galaxy in proximity to the Milky Way strongly suggests that more such objects remain to be found.