The gravitational interactions between the Milky Way and in-falling
satellites offer a wealth of information about the formation and evolution of
our Galaxy. In this paper, we explore the high-dimensionality of the GALAH DR3
plus Gaia eDR3 data set to identify new tidally stripped candidate stars of the
nearby star cluster Omega Centauri (ΟCen). We investigate
both the chemical and dynamical parameter space simultaneously, and identify
cluster candidates that are spatially separated from the main cluster body, in
regions where contamination by halo field stars is high. Most notably, we find
candidates for ΟCen scattered in the halo extending to more
than 50β away from the main body of the cluster. Using a grid of
simulated stellar streams generated with ΟCen like orbital
properties, we then compare the on sky distribution of these candidates to the
models. The results suggest that if ΟCen had a similar
initial mass as its present day mass, then we can place a lower limit on its
time of accretion at taccβ>7 Gyr ago. Alternatively, if the
initial stellar mass was significantly larger, as would be expected if
ΟCen is the remnant core of a dwarf Galaxy, then we can
constrain the accretion time to taccβ>4 Gyr ago. Taken together,
these results are consistent with the scenario that ΟCen is
the remnant core of a disrupted dwarf galaxy.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA