Abstract
We assemble a catalog of Magellanic Cloud red giants from Data Release 2 of the Gaia mission and, utilizing machine-learning methods, obtain photometric metallicity estimates for them. In ...doing so, we are able to chemically map the entirety of the Magellanic System at once. Our maps reveal a plethora of substructure within our red giant sample, with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) bar and spiral arm being readily apparent. We uncover a curious spiral-like feature in the southern portion of the LMC disk, hosting relatively metal-rich giants and likely a by-product of historic encounters with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Modeling the LMC as an inclined thin disk, we find a shallow metallicity gradient of −0.048 ± 0.001 dex kpc
−1
out to ∼12° from the center of the dwarf. We see evidence that the SMC is disrupting, with its outer isodensity contours displaying the S-shape symptomatic of tidal stripping. On studying the proper motions of the SMC giants, we observe a population of them being violently dragged toward the larger Cloud. The perturbed stars predominantly lie in front of the SMC, and we interpret that they exist as a tidal tail of the dwarf, trailing in its motion and undergoing severe disruption from the LMC. We find the metallicity structure in the Magellanic Bridge region to be complex, with evidence for a composite nature in this stellar population, consisting of both LMC and SMC debris.
ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of a Milky Way satellite in the constellation of Antlia. The Antlia 2 dwarf galaxy is located behind the Galactic disc at a latitude of b ∼ 11° and spans 1.26°, which ...corresponds to ∼2.9 kpc at its distance of 130 kpc. While similar in spatial extent to the Large Magellanic Cloud, Antlia 2 is orders of magnitude fainter at MV = −9 mag, making it by far the lowest surface brightness system known (at ∼31.9 mag arcsec−2), ∼100 times more diffuse than the so-called ultra diffuse galaxies. The satellite was identified using a combination of astrometry, photometry, and variability data from Gaia Data Release 2, and its nature confirmed with deep archival DECam imaging, which revealed a conspicuous BHB signal. We have also obtained follow-up spectroscopy using AAOmega on the AAT, identifying 159 member stars, and we used them to measure the dwarf’s systemic velocity, 290.9 ± 0.5 km s−1, its velocity dispersion, 5.7 ± 1.1 km s−1, and mean metallicity, Fe/H = −1.4. From these properties we conclude that Antlia 2 inhabits one of the least dense dark matter (DM) haloes probed to date. Dynamical modelling and tidal-disruption simulations suggest that a combination of a cored DM profile and strong tidal stripping may explain the observed properties of this satellite. The origin of this core may be consistent with aggressive feedback, or may even require alternatives to cold dark matter (such as ultra-light bosons).
The Milky Way Halo in Action Space Myeong, G. C.; Evans, N. W.; Belokurov, V. ...
Astrophysical journal. Letters,
04/2018, Letnik:
856, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We analyze the structure of the local stellar halo of the Milky Way using ∼60000 stars with full phase space coordinates extracted from the SDSS-Gaia catalog. We display stars in action space as a ...function of metallicity in a realistic axisymmetric potential for the Milky Way Galaxy. The metal-rich population is more distended toward high radial action JR as compared to azimuthal or vertical action, Jφ or Jz. It has a mild prograde rotation ), is radially anisotropic and highly flattened, with axis ratio q 0.6-0.7. The metal-poor population is more evenly distributed in all three actions. It has larger prograde rotation ), a mild radial anisotropy, and a roundish morphology (q 0.9). We identify two further components of the halo in action space. There is a high-energy, retrograde component that is only present in the metal-rich stars. This is suggestive of an origin in a retrograde encounter, possibly the one that created the stripped dwarf galaxy nucleus, Centauri. Also visible as a distinct entity in action space is a resonant component, which is flattened and prograde. It extends over a range of metallicities down to Fe/H −3. It has a net outward radial velocity within the solar circle at . The existence of resonant stars at such extremely low metallicities has not been seen before.
We announce the discovery of the Aquarius 2 dwarf galaxy, a new distant satellite of the Milky Way, detected on the fringes of the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) ATLAS and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey ...(SDSS) surveys. The object was originally identified as an overdensity of red giant branch stars, but chosen for subsequent follow-up based on the presence of a strong blue horizontal branch, which was also used to measure its distance of ∼110 kpc. Using deeper imaging from the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph camera on the 6.5m Baade and spectroscopy with DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph on Keck, we measured the satellite's half-light radius 5.1 ± 0.8 arcmin, or ∼160 pc at this distance, and its stellar velocity dispersion of
$5.4^{+3.4}_{-0.9}$
km s−1. With μ = 30.2 mag arcsec−2 and M
V = −4.36, the new satellite lies close to two important detection limits: one in surface brightness; and one in luminosity at a given distance, thereby making Aquarius 2 one of the hardest dwarfs to find.
ABSTRACT
We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)–Gaia catalogue to search for substructure in the stellar halo. The sample comprises 62 133 halo stars with full phase space coordinates and extends ...out to heliocentric distances of ∼10 kpc. As actions are conserved under slow changes of the potential, they permit identification of groups of stars with a common accretion history. We devise a method to identify halo substructures based on their clustering in action space, using metallicity as a secondary check. This is validated against smooth models and numerical constructed stellar haloes from the Aquarius simulations. We identify 21 substructures in the SDSS–Gaia catalogue, including seven high-significance, high-energy and retrograde ones. We investigate whether the retrograde substructures may be material stripped off the atypical globular cluster ω Centauri. Using a simple model of the accretion of the progenitor of the ω Centauri, we tentatively argue for the possible association of up to five of our new substructures (labelled Rg1, Rg3, Rg4, Rg6 and Rg7) with this event. This sets a minimum mass of 5 × 108 M⊙ for the progenitor, so as to bring ω Centauri to its current location in action–energy space. Our proposal can be tested by high-resolution spectroscopy of the candidates to look for the unusual abundance patterns possessed by ω Centauri stars.
We introduce a new maximum-likelihood method to model the density profile of blue horizontal branch and blue straggler stars and apply it to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 photometric ...catalogue. There are a large number (∼20 000) of these tracers available over an impressive 14 000 deg2 in both Northern and Southern Galactic hemispheres, and they provide a robust measurement of the shape of the Milky Way stellar halo. After masking out stars in the vicinity of the Virgo overdensity and the Sagittarius stream, the data are consistent with a smooth, oblate stellar halo with a density that follows a broken power law. The best-fitting model has an inner slope αin∼ 2.3 and an outer slope αout∼ 4.6, together with a break radius occurring at ∼27 kpc and a constant halo flattening (i.e. ratio of minor axis to major axis) of q∼ 0.6. Although a broken power law describes the density fall-off most adequately, it is also well fitted by an Einasto profile. There is no strong evidence for variations in flattening with radius, or for triaxiality of the stellar halo.
We present the first detailed quantitative study of the stellar populations of the Sagittarius (Sgr) streams within the Stripe 82 region, using photometric and spectroscopic observations from the ...Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The star formation history (SFH) is determined separately for the bright and faint Sgr streams, to establish whether both components consist of a similar stellar population mix or have a distinct origin. Best-fitting SFH solutions are characterized by a well-defined, tight sequence in age–metallicity space, indicating that star formation occurred within a well-mixed, homogeneously enriched medium. Star formation rates dropped sharply at an age of ≈5–7 Gyr, possibly related to the accretion of Sgr by the MW. Finally, the Sgr sequence displays a change of slope in age–metallicity space at an age between 11 and 13 Gyr consistent with the Sgr α-element knee, indicating that supernovae Type Ia started contributing to the abundance pattern ≈1–3 Gyr after the start of star formation. Results for both streams are consistent with being drawn from the parent Sgr population mix, but at different epochs. The SFH of the bright stream starts from old, metal-poor populations and extends to a metallicity of Fe/H ≈ −0.7, with peaks at ≈7 and 11 Gyr. The faint SFH samples the older, more metal-poor part of the Sgr sequence, with a peak at ancient ages and stars mostly with Fe/H < −1.3 and age > 9 Gyr. Therefore, we argue in favour of a scenario where the faint stream consists of material stripped (i) earlier, and (ii) from the outskirts of the Sgr dwarf.
Abstract
We use astrometry, broad-band photometry, and variability information from the Data Release 2 of ESA’s Gaia mission (GDR2) to identify members of the Orphan Stream (OS) across the whole sky. ...The stream is traced above and below the celestial equator and in both Galactic hemispheres, thus increasing its visible length to ∼210° equivalent to ∼150 kpc in physical extent. Taking advantage of the large number of RR Lyrae stars in the OS, we extract accurate distances and proper motions across the entire stretch of the tidal debris studied. As delineated by the GDR2 RR Lyrae, the stream exhibits two prominent twists in its shape on the sky which are accompanied by changes in the tangential motion. We complement the RR Lyrae maps with those created using GDR2 Red Giants and the DECam Legacy Survey Main Sequence Turn-Off stars. The behaviour of the OS track on the sky is consistent across all three tracers employed. We detect a strong non-zero motion in the across-stream direction for a substantial portion of the stream. Such a misalignment between the debris track and the streaming velocity cannot be reproduced in a static gravitational potential and signals an interaction with a massive perturber.
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