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Register a new userMapping the X-Shaped Milky Way Bulge
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We analyzed the distribution of the RC stars throughout Galactic bulge using 2MASS data. We mapped the position of the red clump in 1 sq.deg. size fields within the area |l|<=8.5deg and $3.5deg<=|b|<=8.5deg, for a total of 170 sq.deg. The red clump seen single in the central area splits into two components at high Galactic longitudes in both hemispheres, produced by two structures at different distances along the same line of sight. The X-shape is clearly visible in the Z-X plane for longitudes close to $l=0 deg axis. Crude measurements of the space densities of RC stars in the bright and faint RC populations are consistent with the adopted RC distances, providing further supporting evidence that the X-structure is real, and that there is approximate front-back symmetry in our bulge fields. We conclude that the Milky Way bulge has an X-shaped structure within $|l|<~2deg, seen almost edge on with respect to the line of sight. Additional deep NIR photometry extending into the innermost bulge regions combined with spectroscopic data is needed in order to discriminate among the different possibilities that can cause the observed X-shaped structure.
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The Milky Way bulge has a boxy/peanut morphology and an X-shaped structure. This X-shape has been revealed by the `split in the red clump from star counts along the line of sight toward the bulge, measured from photometric surveys. This boxy, X-shaped bulge morphology is not unique to the Milky Way and such bulges are observed in other barred spiral galaxies. N-body simulations show that boxy and X-shaped bulges are formed from the disk via dynamical instabilities. It has also been proposed that the Milky Way bulge is not X-shaped, but rather, the apparent split in the red clump stars is a consequence of different stellar populations, in an old classical spheroidal bulge. We present a WISE image of the Milky Way bulge, produced by downsampling the publicly available unWISE coadds. The WISE image of the Milky Way bulge shows that the X-shaped nature of the Milky Way bulge is self-evident and irrefutable. The X-shape morphology of the bulge in itself and the fraction of bulge stars that comprise orbits within this structure has important implications for the formation history of the Milky Way, and, given the ubiquity of boxy X-shaped bulges, spiral galaxies in general.
We model the split red clump of the Galactic bulge in OGLE-III photometry, and compare the results to predictions from two N-body models. Our analysis yields precise maps of the brightness of the two red clumps, the fraction of stars in the more distant peak, and their combined surface density. We compare the observations to predictions from two N-body models previously used in the literature. Both models correctly predict several features as long as one assumes an angle $alpha_{rm{Bar}} approx 30^{circ}$ between the Galactic bars major axis and the line of sight to the Galactic centre. In particular that the fraction of stars in the faint red clump should decrease with increasing longitude. The biggest discrepancies between models and data are in the rate of decline of the combined surface density of red clump stars toward negative longitudes and of the brightness difference between the two red clumps toward positive longitudes, with neither discrepancy exceeding $sim$25% in amplitude. Our analysis of the red giant luminosity function also yields an estimate of the red giant branch bump parameters toward these high-latitude fields, and evidence for a high rate ($sim$25%) of disk contamination in the bulge at the colour and magnitude of the red clump, with the disk contamination rate increasing toward sightlines further distant from the plane.
A vertical X-shaped structure was recently reported in the Galactic bulge. Here we present evidence of a similar X-shaped structure in the Shen et al. (2010) bar/boxy bulge model that simultaneously matches the stellar kinematics successfully. The X-shaped structure is found in the central region of our bar/boxy bulge model, and is qualitatively consistent with the observed one in many aspects. End-to-end separations of the X-shaped structure in the radial and vertical directions are roughly 3 kpc and 1.8 kpc, respectively. The X-shaped structure contains about 7% of light in the boxy bulge region, but it is significant enough to be identified in observations. An X-shaped structure naturally arises in the formation of bar/boxy bulges, and is mainly associated with orbits trapped around the vertically-extended x_1 family. Like the bar in our model, the X-shaped structure tilts away from the Sun--Galactic center line by 20 degrees. The X-shaped structure becomes increasingly symmetric about the disk plane, so the observed symmetry may indicate that it formed at least a few billion years ago. The existence of the vertical X-shaped structure suggests that the formation of the Milky Way bulge is shaped mainly by internal disk dynamical instabilities.
We explore the kinematics (both the radial velocity and the proper motion) of the vertical X-shaped feature in the Milky Way with an N-body bar/bulge model. From the solar perspective, the distance distribution of particles is double-peaked in fields passing through the X-shape. The separation and amplitude ratio between the two peaks qualitatively match the observed trends towards the Galactic bulge. We confirm clear signatures of cylindrical rotation in the pattern of mean radial velocity across the bar/bulge region. We also find possible imprints of coherent orbital motion inside the bar structure in the radial velocity distribution along l=0 degree, where the near and far sides of the bar/bulge show excesses of approaching and receding particles. The coherent orbital motion is also reflected in the slight displacement of the zero-velocity-line in the mean radial velocity, and the displacement of the maximum/minimum in the mean longitudinal proper motion across the bulge region. We find some degree of anisotropy in the stellar velocity within the X-shape, but the underlying orbital family of the X-shape cannot be clearly distinguished. Two potential applications of the X-shape in previous literature are tested, i.e., bulge rotation and Galactic center measurements. We find that the proper motion difference between the two sides of the X-shape can be used to estimate the mean azimuthal streaming motion of the bulge, but not the pattern speed of the bar. We also demonstrate that the Galactic center can be located with the X-shape, but the accuracy depends on the fitting scheme, the number of fields, and their latitudinal coverage.
Using simulations of box/peanut- (B/P-) shaped bulges, we explore the nature of the X-shape of the Milky Ways bulge. An X-shape can be associated with a B/P-shaped bulge driven by a bar. By comparing in detail the simulations and the observations we show that the principal kinematic imprint of the X-shape is a minimum in the difference between the near and far side mean line-of-sight velocity along the minor axis. This minimum occurs at around |b| = 4{deg}, which is close to the lower limit at which the X-shape can be detected. No coherent signature of an X-shape can be found in Galactocentric azimuthal velocities, vertical velocities, or any of the dispersions. After scaling our simulations, we find that a best fit to the BRAVA data leads to a bar angle of 15{deg}. We also explore a purely geometric method for determining the distance to the Galactic Centre by tracing the arms of the X-shape. We find that we are able to determine this ill-known distance to an accuracy of about 5% per cent with sufficiently accurate distance measurements for the red clump stars in the arms.
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