- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/849/150
- Title:
- RR Lyrae candidates in the MW outer halo
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/849/150
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- RR Lyrae stars are ideal massless tracers that can be used to study the total mass and dark matter content of the outer halo of the Milky Way (MW). This is because they are easy to find in the light-curve databases of large stellar surveys and their distances can be determined with only knowledge of the light curve. We present here a sample of 112 RR Lyr stars beyond 50kpc in the outer halo of the MW, excluding the Sgr streams, for which we have obtained moderate-resolution spectra with Deimos on the Keck II Telescope. Four of these have distances exceeding 100kpc. These were selected from a much larger set of 447 candidate RR Lyr stars that were data-mined using machine-learning techniques applied to the light curves of variable stars in the Palomar Transient Facility database. The observed radial velocities taken at the phase of the variable corresponding to the time of observation were converted to systemic radial velocities in the Galactic standard of rest. From our sample of 112 RR Lyr stars we determine the radial velocity dispersion in the outer halo of the MW to be ~90km/s at 50kpc, falling to about 65km/s near 100 kpc once a small number of major outliers are removed. With reasonable estimates of the completeness of our sample of 447 candidates and assuming a spherical halo, we find that the stellar density in the outer halo declines as r^-4^.
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/863/79
- Title:
- RR Lyrae cand. in the Galactic Center
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/863/79
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Deep near-IR images from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) Survey were used to search for RR Lyrae stars within 100 arcmin from the Galactic Center. A large sample of 960 RR Lyrae of type ab (RRab) stars were discovered. A catalog is presented featuring the positions, magnitudes, colors, periods, and amplitudes for the sample, in addition to estimated reddenings, distances, and metallicities, and measured individual relative proper motions. We use the reddening-corrected Wesenheit magnitudes, defined as W_Ks_=Ks-0.428x(J-Ks), in order to isolate bona fide RRL belonging to the Galaxy Center, finding that 30 RRab are foreground/background objects. We measure a range of extinctions from A_Ks_=0.19 to 1.75mag for the RRab in this region, finding that large extinction is the main cause of the sample incompleteness. The mean period is P=0.5446+/-0.0025d, yielding a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.30+/-0.01 ({sigma}=0.33)dex for the RRab sample in the Galactic Center region. The median distance for the sample is D=8.05+/-0.02kpc. We measure the RRab surface density using the less reddened region sampled here, finding a density of 1000 RRab/sq deg at a projected Galactocentric distance R_G_=1.6deg. Under simple assumptions, this implies a large total mass (M>10^9^M_{sun}_) for the old and metal-poor population contained inside RG. We also measure accurate relative proper motions, from which we derive tangential velocity dispersions of {sigma}V_l_=125.0 and {sigma}V_b_=124.1km/s along the Galactic longitude and latitude coordinates, respectively. The fact that these quantities are similar indicate that the bulk rotation of the RRab population is negligible, and implies that this population is supported by velocity dispersion. In summary, there are two main conclusions of this study. First, the population as a whole is no different from the outer bulge RRab, predominantly a metal-poor component that is shifted with respect to the Oosterhoff type I population defined by the globular clusters in the halo. Second, the RRab sample, as representative of the old and metal-poor stellar population in the region, has high velocity dispersions and zero rotation, suggesting a formation via dissipational collapse.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/158/223
- Title:
- RR Lyrae members of the Pal 5 stellar stream
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/158/223
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Thin stellar streams, formed from the tidal disruption of globular clusters, are important gravitational tools, sensitive to both global and small-scale properties of dark matter. The Palomar 5 stellar stream (Pal 5) is an exemplar stream within the Milky Way: its ~20{deg} tidal tails connect back to the progenitor cluster, and the stream has been used to study the shape, total mass, and substructure fraction of the dark matter distribution of the Galaxy. However, most details of the phase-space distribution of the stream are not fully explained, and dynamical models that use the stream for other inferences are therefore incomplete. Here we aim to measure distance and kinematic properties along the Pal 5 stream in order to motivate improved models of the system. We use a large catalog of RR Lyrae-type stars (RRLs) with astrometric data from the Gaia mission to probabilistically identify RRLs in the Pal 5 stream. RRLs are useful because they are intrinsically luminous standard candles and their distances can be inferred with small relative precision (~3%). By building a probabilistic model of the Pal 5 cluster and stream in proper motion and distance, we find 27 RRLs consistent with being members of the cluster (10) and stream (17). Using these RRLs, we detect gradients in distance and proper motion along the stream, and provide an updated measurement of the distance to the Pal 5 cluster using the RRLs, d=20.6+/-0.2 kpc. We provide a catalog of Pal 5 RRLs with inferred membership probabilities for future modeling work.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/171
- Title:
- RR Lyrae stars in and around NGC 6441
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/155/171
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Detailed elemental abundance patterns of metal-poor ([Fe/H]~-1 dex) stars in the Galactic bulge indicate that a number of them are consistent with globular cluster (GC) stars and may be former members of dissolved GCs. This would indicate that a few per cent of the Galactic bulge was built up from destruction and/or evaporation of GCs. Here, an attempt is made to identify such presumptive stripped stars originating from the massive, inner Galaxy GC NGC 6441 using its rich RR Lyrae variable star (RRL) population. We present radial velocities of 40 RRLs centered on the GC NGC 6441. All 13 of the RRLs observed within the cluster tidal radius have velocities consistent with cluster membership, with an average radial velocity of 24+/-5 km/s and a star-to-star scatter of 11 km/s. This includes two new RRLs that were previously not associated with the cluster. Eight RRLs with radial velocities consistent with cluster membership but up to three time the distance from the tidal radius are also reported. These potential extra-tidal RRLs also have exceptionally long periods, which is a curious characteristic of the NGC 6441 RRL population that hosts RRLs with periods longer than seen anywhere else in the Milky Way. As expected of stripped cluster stars, most are inline with the cluster's orbit. Therefore, either the tidal radius of NGC 6441 is underestimated and/or we are seeing dissolving cluster stars stemming from NGC 6441 that are building up the old spheroidal bulge.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/765/154
- Title:
- RR Lyrae stars in the Catalina Sky Survey
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/765/154
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the analysis of 1207 RR Lyrae found in photometry taken by the Catalina Survey's Mount Lemmon telescope. By combining accurate distances for these stars with measurements for ~14000 type-ab RR Lyrae from the Catalina Schmidt telescope, we reveal an extended association that reaches Galactocentric distances beyond 100kpc and overlaps the Sagittarius stream system. This result confirms earlier evidence for the existence of an outer halo tidal stream resulting from a disrupted stellar system. By comparing the RR Lyrae source density with that expected based on halo models, we find the detection has ~8{sigma} significance. We investigate the distances, radial velocities, metallicities, and period-amplitude distribution of the RR Lyrae. We find that both radial velocities and distances are inconsistent with current models of the Sagittarius stream. We also find tentative evidence for a division in source metallicities for the most distant sources. Following prior analyses, we compare the locations and distances of the RR Lyrae with photometrically selected candidate horizontal branch stars and find supporting evidence that this structure spans at least 60{deg} of the sky. We investigate the prospects of an association between the stream and the unusual globular cluster NGC 2419.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/678/851
- Title:
- RR Lyrae survey in the Galactic Halo
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/678/851
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a search for RR Lyrae variable stars from archival observations of the Southern Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Object survey. The survey covers 1675deg^2^ along the ecliptic to a mean depth of V=19.5, i.e., a heliocentric distance of ~50kpc for RR Lyrae stars. The survey reveals 2016 RR Lyrae candidates. Follow-up photometric monitoring of a subset of these candidates shows ~24% contamination by non-RR Lyrae variables. We derive a map of overdensity of RR Lyrae stars in the halo that reveals a series of structures coincident with the leading and trailing arms of debris from the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. One of the regions of overdensity is found on the trailing arm, 200{deg} from the main body of the Sagittarius dwarf at a distance of ~45kpc. This distant detection of the stellar population of the outer trailing arm of Sagittarius offers a tight constraint on the motion of the dwarf galaxy. A distinctly separate region of overdensity is seen toward the Virgo overdensity.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/813/26
- Title:
- Runaway M dwarf candidates from SDSS-DR7
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/813/26
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a sample of 20 runaway M dwarf candidates (RdMs) within 1kpc of the Sun whose Galactocentric (GC) velocities exceed 400km/s. The candidates were selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 M Dwarf Catalog of West et al. (2011, J/AJ/141/97). Our RdMs have SDSS+USNO-B proper motions that are consistent with those recorded in the PPMXL, LSPM, and combined Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer+SDSS+Two-micron All-sky Survey catalogs. Sixteen RdMs are classified as dwarfs, while the remaining four RdMs are subdwarfs. We model the Galactic potential using a bulge-disk-halo profile. Our fastest RdM, with a GC velocity of 658.5+/-236.9km/s, is a possible hypervelocity candidate, as it is unbound in 77% of our simulations. About half of our RdMs have kinematics that are consistent with ejection from the Galactic center. Seven of our RdMs have kinematics consistent with an ejection scenario from M31 or M32 to within 2{sigma}, although our distance-limited survey makes such a realization unlikely. No more than four of our RdMs may have originated from the Leo stream. We propose that to within measurement errors, most of our bound RdMs are likely disk runaways or halo objects, and may have been accelerated through a series of multi-body interactions within the Galactic disk or possibly supernovae explosions.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/247/11
- Title:
- RV photon limits of well-characterized F-M stars
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/247/11
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The determination of extrasolar planet masses with the radial velocity (RV) technique requires spectroscopic Doppler information from the planet's host star, which varies with stellar brightness and temperature. We analyze the Doppler information in spectra from dwarfs of spectral types F-M utilizing empirical information from HARPS and CARMENES data and model spectra. We revisit the question of whether optical or near-infrared instruments are more efficient for RV observations in low-mass stars, and we come to the conclusion that an optical setup (BVR bands) is more efficient than a near-infrared one (YJHK) in dwarf stars hotter than 3200K. We publish a catalog of 46480 well-studied F-M dwarfs in the solar neighborhood, and we compare its distribution to more than 1 million stars from Gaia DR2. For all stars, we estimate the RV photon noise achievable in typical observations under the assumption of no activity jitter and slow rotation. We find that with an ESPRESSO-like instrument at an 8m telescope, a photon noise limit of 10cm/s or lower can be reached in more than 280 stars in a 5 minute observation. At 4m telescopes, a photon noise limit of 1m/s can be reached in a 10 minute exposure in approximately 10000 predominantly Sun-like stars with a HARPS-like (optical) instrument. The same applies to ~3000 stars for a red optical setup that covers the R and I bands and ~700 stars for a near-infrared instrument. For the latter two, many of the targets are nearby M dwarfs. Finally, we identify targets in which Earth-mass planets within the liquid water habitable zone can cause RV amplitudes comparable to the RV photon noise. Assuming the same exposure times as above, we find that an ESPRESSO-like instrument can reach this limit for 1M_{Earth}_ planets in more than 1000 stars. The optical, red optical, and near-infrared configurations reach the limit for 2M_{Earth}_ planets in approximately 500, 700, and 200 stars, respectively. An online tool is provided to estimate the RV photon noise as a function of stellar temperature and brightness and wavelength coverage.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/433/2240
- Title:
- SALT2 parameters and distances for SNe
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/433/2240
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a cosmological analysis of the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) photometry sample introduced by Ganeshalingam et al. (2010ApJS..190..418G, Cat. J/ApJS/190/418). These supernovae (SNe) provide an effective anchor point to estimate cosmological parameters when combined with data sets at higher redshift. The data presented by Ganeshalingam et al. have been rereduced in the natural system of the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) and Nickel telescopes to minimize systematic uncertainties. We have run the light-curve-fitting software SALT2 on our natural-system light curves to measure light-curve parameters for LOSS light curves and available SN Ia data sets in the literature. We present a Hubble diagram of 586 SNe in the redshift range z=0.01-1.4 with a residual scatter of 0.176mag. Of the 226 low-z SNe Ia in our sample, 91 objects are from LOSS, including 45 without previously published distances. Assuming a flat Universe, we find that the best fit for the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w=-0.86^+0.13^_-0.16_(stat)+/-0.11(sys) from SNe alone, consistent with a cosmological constant. Our data prefer a Universe with an accelerating rate of expansion with 99.999% confidence. When looking at Hubble residuals as a function of host-galaxy morphology, we do not see evidence for a significant trend, although we find a somewhat reduced scatter in Hubble residuals from SNe residing within a projected distance <10kpc of the host-galaxy nucleus ({sigma}=0.156mag). Similar to the results of Blondin, Mandel and Kirshner and Silverman et al. (2012AJ....143..126B, Cat. J/AJ/143/126), we find that Hubble residuals do not correlate with the expansion velocity of SiII{lambda}6355 measured in optical spectra near maximum light. Our data are consistent with no presence of a local "Hubble bubble". Improvements in cosmological analyses within low-z samples can be achieved by better constraining calibration uncertainties in the zero-points of photometric systems.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/751/130
- Title:
- SDSS-DR7 red HB stars spectroscopic data
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/751/130
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have selected 556 red horizontal branch stars along the streams of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy from Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 spectroscopic data using a theoretical model. The metallicity and {alpha}-element distributions are investigated for stars in the Sgr streams and for Galactic stars at the same locations. We find that the Sgr stars have two peaks in the metallicity distribution while the Galactic stars have a more prominent metal-poor peak. Meanwhile, [{alpha}/Fe] ratios of the Sgr stars are lower than those of the Galactic stars. Among the Sgr stars, we find a difference in the metallicity distribution between the leading and trailing arms of the Sgr tidal tails. The metallicity and [{alpha}/Fe] distribution of the leading arm is similar to that of the Galaxy. The trailing arm is composed mainly of a metal-rich component and [{alpha}/Fe] is obviously lower than that of the Galactic stars. The metallicity gradient is -(1.8+/-0.3)x10^-3^dex/deg in the first wrap of the trailing arm and -(1.5+/-0.4)x10^-3^dex/deg in the first wrap of the leading arm. No significant gradient exists along the second wraps of the leading or trailing arms. It seems that the Sgr dwarf galaxy initially lost the metal-poor component in the second wrap (older) arms due to the tidal force of our Galaxy and then the metal-rich component is disrupted in the first wrap (younger) arms. Finally, we found that the velocity dispersion of the trailing arm from 88{deg}<{Lambda}_{sun}_<112{deg} is {sigma}=9.808+/-1.0km/s, which is consistent with previous work in the literature.
