35 research outputs found
Building up the Stellar Halo of the Galaxy
We study numerical simulations of satellite galaxy disruption in a potential
resembling that of the Milky Way. Our goal is to assess whether a merger origin
for the stellar halo would leave observable fossil structure in the phase-space
distribution of nearby stars. We show how mixing of disrupted satellites can be
quantified using a coarse-grained entropy. Although after 10 Gyr few obvious
asymmetries remain in the distribution of particles in configuration space,
strong correlations are still present in velocity space. We give a simple
analytic description of these effects, based on a linearised treatment in
action-angle variables, which shows how the kinematic and density structure of
the debris stream changes with time. By applying this description we find that
a single satellite of current luminosity 10^8 L_\sun disrupted 10 Gyr ago
from an orbit circulating in the inner halo (mean apocentre kpc)
would contribute about kinematically cold streams with internal
velocity dispersions below 5 km/s to the local stellar halo. If the whole
stellar halo were built by disrupted satellites, it should consist locally of
300 - 500 such streams. Clear detection of all these structures would require a
sample of a few thousand stars with 3-D velocities accurate to better than 5
km/s. Even with velocity errors several times worse than this, the expected
clumpiness should be quite evident. We apply our formalism to a group of stars
detected near the North Galactic Pole, and derive an order of magnitude
estimate for the initial properties of the progenitor system.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, minor changes, matches the version to appear in
MNRAS, Vol. 307, p.495-517 (August 1999
Radial Migration in Galactic Thick Discs
We present a study of the extent to which the Sellwood & Binney radial
migration of stars is affected by their vertical motion about the midplane. We
use both controlled simulations in which only a single spiral mode is excited,
as well as slightly more realistic cases with multiple spiral patterns and a
bar. We find that rms angular momentum changes are reduced by vertical motion,
but rather gradually, and the maximum changes are almost as large for thick
disc stars as for those in a thin disc. We find that particles in simulations
in which a bar forms suffer slightly larger angular momentum changes than in
comparable cases with no bar, but the cumulative effect of multiple spiral
events still dominates. We have determined that vertical action, and not
vertical energy, is conserved on average during radial migration.Comment: 23 pages, 25 figures, accepted to appear in MNRA
Two Stellar Components in the Halo of the Milky Way
The halo of the Milky Way provides unique elemental abundance and kinematic
information on the first objects to form in the Universe, which can be used to
tightly constrain models of galaxy formation and evolution. Although the halo
was once considered a single component, evidence for its dichotomy has slowly
emerged in recent years from inspection of small samples of halo objects. Here
we show that the halo is indeed clearly divisible into two broadly overlapping
structural components -- an inner and an outer halo -- that exhibit different
spatial density profiles, stellar orbits and stellar metallicities (abundances
of elements heavier than helium). The inner halo has a modest net prograde
rotation, whereas the outer halo exhibits a net retrograde rotation and a peak
metallicity one-third that of the inner halo. These properties indicate that
the individual halo components probably formed in fundamentally different ways,
through successive dissipational (inner) and dissipationless (outer) mergers
and tidal disruption of proto-Galactic clumps.Comment: Two stand-alone files in manuscript, concatenated together. The first
is for the main paper, the second for supplementary information. The version
is consistent with the version published in Natur
The Milky Way Tomography With SDSS. III. Stellar Kinematics
We study Milky Way kinematics using a sample of 18.8 million main-sequence stars with r 20 degrees). We find that in the region defined by 1 kpc < Z < 5 kpc and 3 kpc < R < 13 kpc, the rotational velocity for disk stars smoothly decreases, and all three components of the velocity dispersion increase, with distance from the Galactic plane. In contrast, the velocity ellipsoid for halo stars is aligned with a spherical coordinate system and appears to be spatially invariant within the probed volume. The velocity distribution of nearby (Z < 1 kpc) K/M stars is complex, and cannot be described by a standard Schwarzschild ellipsoid. For stars in a distance-limited subsample of stars (< 100 pc), we detect a multi-modal velocity distribution consistent with that seen by HIPPARCOS. This strong non-Gaussianity significantly affects the measurements of the velocity-ellipsoid tilt and vertex deviation when using the Schwarzschild approximation. We develop and test a simple descriptive model for the overall kinematic behavior that captures these features over most of the probed volume, and can be used to search for substructure in kinematic and metallicity space. We use this model to predict further improvements in kinematic mapping of the Galaxy expected from Gaia and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.NSF AST-615991, AST-0707901, AST-0551161, AST-02-38683, AST-06-07634, AST-0807444, PHY05-51164NASA NAG5-13057, NAG5-13147, NNXO-8AH83GPhysics Frontier Center/Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA) PHY 08-22648U.S. National Science FoundationMarie Curie Research Training Network ELSA (European Leadership in Space Astrometry) MRTN-CT-2006-033481Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, United States Department of Energy DE-AC02-07CH11359Alfred P. Sloan FoundationParticipating InstitutionsJapanese MonbukagakushoMax Planck SocietyHigher Education Funding Council for EnglandMcDonald Observator
The Milky Way Tomography with SDSS: III. Stellar Kinematics
We study Milky Way kinematics using a sample of 18.8 million main-sequence
stars with r<20 and proper-motion measurements derived from SDSS and POSS
astrometry, including ~170,000 stars with radial-velocity measurements from the
SDSS spectroscopic survey. Distances to stars are determined using a
photometric parallax relation, covering a distance range from ~100 pc to 10 kpc
over a quarter of the sky at high Galactic latitudes (|b|>20 degrees). We find
that in the region defined by 1 kpc <Z< 5 kpc and 3 kpc <R< 13 kpc, the
rotational velocity for disk stars smoothly decreases, and all three components
of the velocity dispersion increase, with distance from the Galactic plane. In
contrast, the velocity ellipsoid for halo stars is aligned with a spherical
coordinate system and appears to be spatially invariant within the probed
volume. The velocity distribution of nearby ( kpc) K/M stars is complex,
and cannot be described by a standard Schwarzschild ellipsoid. For stars in a
distance-limited subsample of stars (<100 pc), we detect a multimodal velocity
distribution consistent with that seen by HIPPARCOS. This strong
non-Gaussianity significantly affects the measurements of the velocity
ellipsoid tilt and vertex deviation when using the Schwarzschild approximation.
We develop and test a simple descriptive model for the overall kinematic
behavior that captures these features over most of the probed volume, and can
be used to search for substructure in kinematic and metallicity space. We use
this model to predict further improvements in kinematic mapping of the Galaxy
expected from Gaia and LSST.Comment: 90 pages, 26 figures, submitted to Ap
The Cluster Galaxy Circular Velocity Function
We present galaxy circular velocity functions (GCVFs) for 34 low redshift (z
< 0.15) clusters identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), for fifteen
clusters drawn from dark matter simulations of hierarchical structure growth in
a LambdaCDM cosmology, and for ~29,000 SDSS field galaxies. We find that the
observed and simulated cluster GCVFs take the form of a power law. The
cumulative GCVFs of the simulated clusters are very similar across a wide range
of cluster masses, provided individual subhalo circular velocities are scaled
by the circular velocities of the parent cluster. Once all sources of error are
accounted for, the intrinsic scatter in the cumulative, scaled observed cluster
GCVF is consistent with the simulations. The slope of the observed cluster GCVF
is -2.5, independent of cluster velocity dispersion. The average slope of the
simulated GCVFs is somewhat steeper, although formally consistent given the
errors. Using our highest resolution cluster, we find that the effects of
baryons on galaxy rotation curves is to flatten the simulated cluster GCVF into
better agreement with observations. Finally, we find that the field GCVF
deviates significantly from a power law, being flatter than the cluster GCVF at
circular velocities less than 200 km/s, and steeper at circular velocities
greater than 200 km/s.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
The Fifth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
This paper describes the Fifth Data Release (DR5) of the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS). DR5 includes all survey quality data taken through June 2005 and
represents the completion of the SDSS-I project (whose successor, SDSS-II will
continue through mid-2008). It includes five-band photometric data for 217
million objects selected over 8000 square degrees, and 1,048,960 spectra of
galaxies, quasars, and stars selected from 5713 square degrees of that imaging
data. These numbers represent a roughly 20% increment over those of the Fourth
Data Release; all the data from previous data releases are included in the
present release. In addition to "standard" SDSS observations, DR5 includes
repeat scans of the southern equatorial stripe, imaging scans across M31 and
the core of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, and the first spectroscopic data
from SEGUE, a survey to explore the kinematics and chemical evolution of the
Galaxy. The catalog database incorporates several new features, including
photometric redshifts of galaxies, tables of matched objects in overlap regions
of the imaging survey, and tools that allow precise computations of survey
geometry for statistical investigations.Comment: ApJ Supp, in press, October 2007. This paper describes DR5. The SDSS
Sixth Data Release (DR6) is now public, available from http://www.sdss.or
The stellar halo of the Galaxy
Stellar halos may hold some of the best preserved fossils of the formation
history of galaxies. They are a natural product of the merging processes that
probably take place during the assembly of a galaxy, and hence may well be the
most ubiquitous component of galaxies, independently of their Hubble type. This
review focuses on our current understanding of the spatial structure, the
kinematics and chemistry of halo stars in the Milky Way. In recent years, we
have experienced a change in paradigm thanks to the discovery of large amounts
of substructure, especially in the outer halo. I discuss the implications of
the currently available observational constraints and fold them into several
possible formation scenarios. Unraveling the formation of the Galactic halo
will be possible in the near future through a combination of large wide field
photometric and spectroscopic surveys, and especially in the era of Gaia.Comment: 46 pages, 16 figures. References updated and some minor changes.
Full-resolution version available at
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~ahelmi/stellar-halo-review.pd
The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
This paper describes the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS), marking the completion of the original goals of the SDSS and the end of
the phase known as SDSS-II. It includes 11663 deg^2 of imaging data, with most
of the roughly 2000 deg^2 increment over the previous data release lying in
regions of low Galactic latitude. The catalog contains five-band photometry for
357 million distinct objects. The survey also includes repeat photometry over
250 deg^2 along the Celestial Equator in the Southern Galactic Cap. A
coaddition of these data goes roughly two magnitudes fainter than the main
survey. The spectroscopy is now complete over a contiguous area of 7500 deg^2
in the Northern Galactic Cap, closing the gap that was present in previous data
releases. There are over 1.6 million spectra in total, including 930,000
galaxies, 120,000 quasars, and 460,000 stars. The data release includes
improved stellar photometry at low Galactic latitude. The astrometry has all
been recalibrated with the second version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog
(UCAC-2), reducing the rms statistical errors at the bright end to 45
milli-arcseconds per coordinate. A systematic error in bright galaxy photometr
is less severe than previously reported for the majority of galaxies. Finally,
we describe a series of improvements to the spectroscopic reductions, including
better flat-fielding and improved wavelength calibration at the blue end,
better processing of objects with extremely strong narrow emission lines, and
an improved determination of stellar metallicities. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 10 embedded figures. Accepted to ApJS after minor
correction
The Milky Way Tomography with SDSS: II. Stellar Metallicity
Using effective temperature and metallicity derived from SDSS spectra for
~60,000 F and G type main sequence stars (0.2<g-r<0.6), we develop polynomial
models for estimating these parameters from the SDSS u-g and g-r colors. We
apply this method to SDSS photometric data for about 2 million F/G stars and
measure the unbiased metallicity distribution for a complete volume-limited
sample of stars at distances between 500 pc and 8 kpc. The metallicity
distribution can be exquisitely modeled using two components with a spatially
varying number ratio, that correspond to disk and halo. The two components also
possess the kinematics expected for disk and halo stars. The metallicity of the
halo component is spatially invariant, while the median disk metallicity
smoothly decreases with distance from the Galactic plane from -0.6 at 500 pc to
-0.8 beyond several kpc. The absence of a correlation between metallicity and
kinematics for disk stars is in a conflict with the traditional decomposition
in terms of thin and thick disks. We detect coherent substructures in the
kinematics--metallicity space, such as the Monoceros stream, which rotates
faster than the LSR, and has a median metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.96, with an rms
scatter of only ~0.15 dex. We extrapolate our results to the performance
expected from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and estimate that the
LSST will obtain metallicity measurements accurate to 0.2 dex or better, with
proper motion measurements accurate to ~0.2 mas/yr, for about 200 million F/G
dwarf stars within a distance limit of ~100 kpc (g<23.5). [abridged]Comment: 40 pages, 21 figures, emulateApJ style, accepted to ApJ, high
resolution figures are available from
http://www.astro.washington.edu/ivezic/sdss/mw/astroph0804.385