2007ApJ...664..343K -
Astrophys. J., 664, 343-348 (2007/July-3)
Where are the old-population hypervelocity stars?
KOLLMEIER J.A. and GOULD A.
Abstract (from CDS):
To date, all of the reported hypervelocity stars (HVSs), which are believed to be ejected from the Galactic center, are blue and therefore almost certainly young. Old-population HVSs could be much more numerous than the young ones that have been discovered, but still have escaped detection because they are hidden in a much denser background of Galactic halo stars. Discovery of these stars would shed light on star formation at the Galactic center, would constrain the mechanism by which they are ejected from it, and, if they prove numerous, would enable detailed studies of the structure of the dark halo. We analyze the problem of finding these stars and show that the search should be concentrated around the main-sequence turnoff (0.3<g-i<1.1) at relatively faint magnitudes (19.5<g<21.5). If the ratio of turnoff stars to B stars is the same for HVSs as it is in the local disk, such a search would yield about 1 old-population HVS per 45 deg2. A telescope similar to the Sloan 2.5 m could search about 20 deg2 per night, implying that such a population, should it exist, would show up in interesting numbers in short order.
Abstract Copyright:
∼
Journal keyword(s):
Galaxy: Center - Galaxy: Halo - Galaxy: Kinematics and Dynamics - Galaxy: Stellar Content - Stars: Late-Type
Simbad objects:
4
Full paper
View the references in ADS
To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2007ApJ...664..343K and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu