Detection of a Nearby Halo Debris Stream in the WISE and 2MASS Surveys
Abstract
Combining the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer All-Sky Release with the Two Micron All Sky Survey Point Source Catalog, we detect a nearby, moderately metal-poor stellar debris stream spanning 24° across the southern sky. The stream, which we designate Alpheus, is at an estimated distance of ~1.9 kpc. Its position, orientation, width, estimated metallicity, and, to some extent, its distance, are in approximate agreement with what one might expect of the leading tidal tail of the southern globular cluster NGC 288.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1088/2041-8205/769/2/L23
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1304.1170
- Bibcode:
- 2013ApJ...769L..23G
- Keywords:
-
- Galaxy: halo;
- Galaxy: structure;
- globular clusters: general;
- globular clusters: individual: NGC 288;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters