Abstract
We report the discovery of a thin stellar stream found in Pan-STARRS1 photometry near the Galactic bulge in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It appears as a coherent structure in the colour-selected stellar density maps produced to search for tidal debris around nearby globular clusters. The stream is exceptionally short and narrow; it is about 2.°5 long and 6 arcmin wide in projection. The colour-magnitude diagram of this object, which harbours a blue horizontalbranch, is consistent with an old and relatively metal-poor population ([Fe/H] ~-1.3) located 9.5 ± 0.9 kpc away at (l, b) ~ (5°, +32°), and 5.0 ± 1.0 kpc from the Galactic centre. These properties argue for a globular cluster as progenitor. The finding of such a prominent, nearby stream suggests that many streams could await discovery in themore densely populated regions of our Galaxy.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters |
Volume | 443 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Jul 2014 |
Keywords
- Galaxy: halo
- Galaxy: structure
- Globular clusters: general
- Surveys