Sagittarius tidal debris 90 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center

Heidi Jo Newberg, Brian Yanny, Eva K. Grebel, Greg Hennessy, Željko Ivezić, David Martinez-Delgado, Michael Odenkirchen, Hans Walter Rix, Jon Brinkmann, Don Q. Lamb, Donald P. Schneider, Donald G. York

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

155 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new overdensity of A-colored stars in distant parts of the Milky Way's stellar halo, at a dereddened Sloan Digital Sky Survey magnitude of g 0 = 20.3, is presented. Identification of associated variable RR Lyrae candidates supports the claim that these are blue horizontal branch stars. The inferred distance of these stars from the Galactic center is 90 kpc, assuming that the absolute magnitude of these stars is Mg0 = 0.7 and that the Sun is 8.5 kpc from the Galactic center. The new tidal debris is within 10 kpc of the same plane as other confirmed tidal debris from the disruption of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and could be associated with the trailing tidal arm. Distances to the Sagittarius stream estimated from M stars are about 13% smaller than our inferred distances. The tidal debris has a width of at least 10° and is traced for more than 20° across the sky. The globular cluster NGC 2419 is located within the detected tidal debris and may also have once been associated with the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)L191-L194
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume596
Issue number2 II
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 20 2003

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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