Multiple Components of the Jhelum Stellar Stream

In simple models of the Milky Way, tidally disrupting satellites produce long and thin—nearly one-dimensional—stellar streams. Using astrometric data from the Gaia second data release and photometry from the Dark Energy Survey, we demonstrate that the Jhelum stream, a stellar stream in the inner halo, is a two-dimensional structure. The spatial distribution of highly probable Jhelum members reveals a dense thin component and an associated diffuse, spatially offset component. These two spatial components have indistinguishable proper motions (at σ ∼ 1 mas yr^-1 level) and a similar ratio of blue straggler to blue horizontal branch stars, which indicates a common origin for the two components. The best-fit orbit to the narrow component (pericenter 8 kpc, apocenter 24 kpc), however, does not explain the wide component of the Jhelum stream. On the other hand, an older orbital wrap of Jhelum’s orbit traces the Indus stream, indicating a possible connection between these two structures and additional complexity in Jhelum’s formation. Substructure in the Jhelum progenitor or precession of its tidal debris in the Milky Way potential may explain the observed structure of Jhelum. Future spectroscopic data will enable discrimination between these “nature” and “nurture” formation scenarios. Jhelum adds to the growing list of cold stellar streams that display complex morphologies and promise to reveal the dynamical history of the Milky Way.