2006MNRAS.369.1911L

Bellazzini et al. claim that López-Corredoira et al. warp model is totally unable to reproduce the Canis Major structure in the red clump stars. However, slight variations in the azimuth of the López-Corredoira et al. warp model, justified by the uncertainties in the parameter as well as the local irregularities with respect to the average model, derive a result much closer to the observations of the overdensity south/north. The bump of red clump stars with m_K = 13-13.5 around l = 241°,b = -8{bsl00064}5 and the depth of the Canis Major structure are also explainable in terms of the warp with an appropriate extrapolation of constant height between Galactocentric radii of 13 and 16 kpc, as observed roughly in the southern warp, instead of a monotonically increasing height like the northern warp; and the observed velocity distribution of stars cannot exclude the warp possibility. A warp model is therefore still a possible explanation of the Canis Major overdensity, and the hypothesis of the existence of a dwarf galaxy is unnecessary, although still a possibility too.