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Register a new userA Larger Extent for the Ophiuchus Stream
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Authors
N. Caldwell
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We present new kinematic data for the Ophiuchus stellar stream. Spectra have been taken of member candidates at the MMT telescope using Hectospec, Hectochelle and Binospec, which provide more than 1800 new velocities. Combined with proper motion measurements of stars in the field by the Gaia - DR2 catalog, we have derived stream membership probabilities, resulting in the detection of more than 200 likely members. These data show the stream extends to more than three times the length shown in the discovery data. A spur to the main stream is also detected. The high resolution spectra allow us to resolve the stellar velocity dispersion, found to be $1.6 pm 0.3 $ km/sec.
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The Ophiuchus stellar stream presents a dynamical puzzle: its old stellar populations ($sim 12$ Gyr) cannot be reconciled with (1) its orbit in a simple model for the Milky Way potential and (2) its short angular extent, both of which imply that the observed stream formed within the last $<1$ Gyr. Recent theoretical work has shown that streams on chaotic orbits may abruptly fan out near their apparent ends; stars in these fans are dispersed in both position and velocity and may be difficult to associate with the stream. Here we present the first evidence of such stream-fanning in the Ophiuchus stream, traced by four blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars beyond the apparent end of the stream. These stars stand out from the background by their high velocities ($v_{rm los} > 230$ km s$^{-1}$) against $sim 40$ other stars: their velocities are comparable to those of the stream, but would be exceptional if they were unrelated halo stars. Their positions and velocities are, however, inconsistent with simple extrapolation of the observed cold, high-density portion of the stream. These observations suggest that stream-fanning may be a real, observable effect and, therefore, that Ophiuchus may be on a chaotic orbit. They also show that the Ophiuchus stream is more extended and hence dynamically older than previously thought, easing the stellar population vs. dynamical age tension.
The Ophiuchus stream is a recently discovered stellar tidal stream in the Milky Way. We present high-quality spectroscopic data for 14 stream member stars obtained using the Keck and MMT telescopes. We confirm the stream as a fast moving ($v_{los}sim290$ km s$^{-1}$), kinematically cold group ($sigma_{v_{los}}lesssim1$ km s$^{-1}$) of $alpha$-enhanced and metal-poor stars (${rm [alpha/Fe]sim0.4}$ dex, ${rm [Fe/H]sim-2.0}$ dex). Using a probabilistic technique, we model the stream simultaneously in line-of-sight velocity, color-magnitude, coordinate, and proper motion space, and so determine its distribution in 6D phase-space. We find that that the stream extends in distance from 7.5 to 9 kpc from the Sun; it is 50 times longer than wide, merely appearing highly foreshortened in projection. The analysis of the stellar population contained in the stream suggests that it is $sim12$ Gyr old, and that its initial stellar mass was $sim2times10^4$ $M_{odot}$ (or at least $gtrsim7times10^3$ $M_{odot}$). Assuming a fiducial Milky Way potential, we fit an orbit to the stream which matches the observed phase-space distribution, except for some tension in the proper motions: the stream has an orbital period of $sim350$ Myr, and is on a fairly eccentric orbit ($esim0.66$) with a pericenter of $sim3.5$ kpc and an apocenter of $sim17$ kpc. The phase-space structure and stellar population of the stream show that its progenitor must have been a globular cluster that was disrupted only $sim240$ Myr ago. We do not detect any significant overdensity of stars along the stream that would indicate the presence of a progenitor, and conclude that the stream is all that is left of the progenitor.
The Ophiuchus stream is a short arc-like stellar feature of uncertain origin located $sim 5$ kpc North of the Galactic centre. New proper motions from the second $Gaia$ data release reconcile the direction of motion of stream members with the stream arc, resolving a puzzling mismatch reported in earlier work. We use N-body simulations to show that the stream is likely only on its second pericentric passage, and thus was formed recently. The simulations suggest that the entire disrupted progenitor is visible in the observed stream today, and that little further tidal debris lies beyond the ends of the stream. The luminosity, length, width, and velocity dispersion of the stream suggest a globular cluster (GC) progenitor substantially fainter and of lower surface brightness than estimated in previous work, and unlike any other known globulars in the Galaxy. This result suggests the existence of clusters that would extend the known GC population to fainter and more weakly bound systems than hitherto known. How such a weakly-bound cluster of old stars survived until it was disrupted so recently, however, remains a mystery. Integrating backwards in time, we find that the orbits of Sagittarius and Ophiuchus passed within $sim 5$ kpc of each other about $sim 100$ Myrs ago, an interaction that might help resolve this puzzle.
The Ophiuchus stellar stream is peculiar: (1) its length is short given the age of its constituent stars, and (2) several probable member stars that lie close in both sky position and velocity have dispersions in these dimensions that far exceed those seen within the stream. The streams proximity to the Galactic center suggests that the bar must have a significant influence on its dynamical history: The triaxiality and time-dependence of the bar may generate chaotic orbits in the vicinity of the stream that can greatly affect its morphology. We explore this hypothesis with models of stream formation along orbits consistent with Ophiuchus properties in a Milky Way potential model that includes a rotating bar. We find that in all choices for the rotation parameters of the bar, orbits fit to the stream are strongly chaotic. Mock streams generated along these orbits qualitatively match the observed properties of the stream: because of chaos, stars stripped early generally form low-density, high-dispersion fans leaving only the most recently disrupted material detectable as a strong over-density. Our models predict that there should be more low-surface-brightness tidal debris than detected so far, likely with a complex phase-space morphology. The existence of or lack of these features around the Ophiuchus stream would provide an interesting constraint on the properties of the Milky Way bar and would help distinguish between formation scenarios for the stream. This is the first time that chaos has been used to explain the properties of a stellar stream and is the first demonstration of the dynamical importance of chaos in the Galactic halo. The existence of long, thin streams around the Milky Way---presumably formed along non- or weakly-chaotic orbits---may represent only a subset of the total population of disrupted satellites.
We report tentative evidence for a cold stellar stream in the ultra-diffuse galaxy NGC1052-DF2. If confirmed, this stream (which we refer to as The Maybe Stream) would be the first cold stellar stream detected outside of the Local Group. The candidate stream is very narrow and has an unusual and highly curved shape.
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