2015AJ....150..160B

Query : 2015AJ....150..160B

2015AJ....150..160B - Astron. J., 150, 160 (2015/November-0)

Charting unexplored dwarf galaxy territory with RR Lyrae.

BAKER M. and WILLMAN B.

Abstract (from CDS):

Observational biases against finding Milky Way (MW) dwarf galaxies at low Galactic latitudes (b ≲ 20°) and at low surface brightnesses (µV,0 ≳ 29 mag/arcsec2) currently limit our understanding of the faintest limits of the galaxy luminosity function. This paper is a proof-of-concept that groups of two or more RR Lyrae stars could reveal MW dwarf galaxies at d > 50 kpc in these unmined regions of parameter space, with only modest contamination from interloper groups when large halo structures are excluded. For example, a friends-of-friends (FOF) search with a 2D linking length of 500 pc could reveal dwarf galaxies more luminous than MV = -3.2 mag and with surface brightnesses as faint as 31 mag/arcsec (or even fainter, depending on RR Lyrae specific frequency). Although existing public RR Lyrae catalogs are highly incomplete at d > 50 kpc and/or include <1% of the MW halo's volume, a FOF search reveals two known dwarfs (Boötes I and Sextans) and two dwarf candidate groups possibly worthy of follow-up. PanSTARRS 1 (PS1) may catalog RR Lyrae to 100 kpc (in the absence of Galactic extinction) which would include up to ∼15% of predicted MW dwarf galaxies. Groups of PS1 RR Lyrae should therefore reveal very low surface brightness and low Galactic latitude dwarfs within its footprint, if they exist. With sensitivity to RR Lyrae to d ≳ 600 kpc, LSST is the only planned survey that will be both wide-field and deep enough to use RR Lyrae to definitively measure the MW's dwarf galaxy census to extremely low surface brightnesses, and through the Galactic plane.

Abstract Copyright: ∼

Journal keyword(s): galaxies: dwarf - galaxies: star clusters: general - stars: distances - stars: variables: general - techniques: photometric

CDS comments: Triangulum 3 is a probable misprint for Triangulum 2 (NAME Laevens 2/Triangulum II in Simbad).

Simbad objects: 38

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Number of rows : 38
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA 		ICRS (J2000)
DEC 		Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026 		#notes
1 M 31 AGN 00 42 44.330 +41 16 07.50 4.86 4.36 3.44     ~ 13622 1
2 NAME Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy G 01 00 09.4 -33 42 32   9.79 8.6 8.81   ~ 1498 4
3 NAME Tri II G 02 13 17.40 +36 10 42.4           ~ 164 0
4 NAME Segue 2 G 02 19 16.0 +20 10 31     15.2     ~ 299 0
5 NAME Sagittarius Stream St* 02 22 +00.0           ~ 1001 0
6 MCG-06-07-001 G 02 39 59.3 -34 26 57   9.02 7.4     ~ 1894 1
7 NAME Hor I G 02 55 31.7 -54 07 08           ~ 169 0
8 NAME Magellanic Clouds GrG 03 00 -71.0           ~ 7988 0
9 NAME Horologium II G 03 16 32.1 -50 01 05           ~ 76 0
10 NAME Reticulum II G 03 35 42.1 -54 02 57           ~ 375 0
11 NAME Eridanus II G 03 44 21.1 -43 32 00           ~ 216 0
12 NAME Pic I G 04 43 47.4 -50 16 59           ~ 58 0
13 ESO 206-20A G 06 41 36.7 -50 57 58   22.14 11.0 19.47   ~ 1190 0
14 NAME UMa II Galaxy G 08 51 30.0 +63 07 48     13.3     ~ 410 0
15 NAME Leo T G 09 34 53.4 +17 03 05     15.1     ~ 434 0
16 NAME Segue 1 G 10 07 03.2 +16 04 25     15.3     ~ 517 1
17 Z 64-73 G 10 08 28.12 +12 18 23.4   11.3 10.0     ~ 1284 1
18 NAME Sextans dSph LSB 10 13 02.9 -01 36 53   12 10.4     ~ 921 0
19 NAME UMa I Galaxy G 10 34 52.80 +51 55 12.0     14.4     ~ 355 1
20 NAME Willman 1 G 10 49 21.0 +51 03 00     15.2     ~ 345 0
21 Z 126-111 G 11 13 28.13 +22 09 10.1   12.9 12.0     ~ 899 0
22 NAME Leo V LSB 11 31 09.60 +02 13 12.0     16.0     ~ 234 0
23 NAME Leo IV LSB 11 32 57.0 -00 32 00     15.1     ~ 419 1
24 NAME Hydra II G 12 21 42.1 -31 59 07           ~ 118 0
25 NAME Coma Dwarf Galaxy G 12 26 59.0 +23 54 15     14.1     ~ 482 1
26 NAME CVn II dSph G 12 57 09.6 +34 19 12     16.1     ~ 287 2
27 NAME CVn I dSph G 13 28 03.5 +33 33 21     13.1     ~ 352 1
28 NAME Bootes II G 13 58 00.0 +12 51 00     15.4     ~ 269 0
29 NAME Bootes Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy G 14 00 00.0 +14 30 00     12.8     ~ 491 0
30 Z 318-18 G 15 09 08.0 +67 13 21   13.60 10.6     ~ 1459 0
31 NAME Hercules Dwarf Galaxy G 16 31 02.0 +12 47 30     14.0     ~ 379 1
32 Z 300-12 G 17 20 14.335 +57 55 16.39   12.40 10.6     ~ 1428 1
33 NAME Pegasus III LSB 22 24 22.6 +05 25 12           ~ 69 0
34 NAME Tuc II G 22 51 55.1 -58 34 08           ~ 192 0
35 NAME Grus I G 22 56 42.4 -50 09 48           ~ 126 0
36 NAME Pisces II G 22 58 31.0 +05 57 09     16.3     ~ 283 0
37 NAME Pisces Overdensity G 23 19.0 +00 00           ~ 65 0
38 NAME Phe II G 23 39 59.4 -54 24 22           ~ 107 0

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