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A Ghost in Boötes: The Least-Luminous Disrupted Dwarf Galaxy

dc.contributor.authorChandra, V.
dc.contributor.authorConroy, C.
dc.contributor.authorCaldwell, N.
dc.contributor.authorBonaca, A.
dc.contributor.authorNaidu, R.P.
dc.contributor.authorZaritsky, D.
dc.contributor.authorCargile, P.A.
dc.contributor.authorHan, J.J.
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, B.D.
dc.contributor.authorSpeagle, J.S.
dc.contributor.authorTing, Y.-S.
dc.contributor.authorWoody, T.
dc.date.accessioned2023-12-21T18:45:21Z
dc.date.available2023-12-21T18:45:21Z
dc.date.issued2022-11-29
dc.identifier.citationChandra, V., Conroy, C., Caldwell, N., Bonaca, A., Naidu, R. P., Zaritsky, D., ... & Woody, T. (2022). A Ghost in Boötes: The Least-Luminous Disrupted Dwarf Galaxy. The Astrophysical Journal, 940(2), 127.
dc.identifier.issn0004-637X
dc.identifier.doi10.3847/1538-4357/ac9b4b
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/670387
dc.description.abstractWe report the discovery of Specter, a disrupted ultrafaint dwarf galaxy revealed by the H3 Spectroscopic Survey. We detected this structure via a pair of comoving metal-poor stars at a distance of 12.5 kpc, and further characterized it with Gaia astrometry and follow-up spectroscopy. Specter is a 25° × 1° stream of stars that is entirely invisible until strict kinematic cuts are applied to remove the Galactic foreground. The spectroscopic members suggest a stellar age τ ≳ 12 Gyr and a mean metallicity 〈 [ Fe / H ] 〉 = − 1.84 − 0.18 + 0.16 , with a significant intrinsic metallicity dispersion σ [ Fe / H ] = 0.37 − 0.13 + 0.21 . We therefore argue that Specter is the disrupted remnant of an ancient dwarf galaxy. With an integrated luminosity M V ≈ −2.6, Specter is by far the least-luminous dwarf galaxy stream known. We estimate that dozens of similar streams are lurking below the detection threshold of current search techniques, and conclude that spectroscopic surveys offer a novel means to identify extremely low surface brightness structures. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInstitute of Physics
dc.rights© 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleA Ghost in Boötes: The Least-Luminous Disrupted Dwarf Galaxy
dc.typeArticle
dc.typetext
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Astronomy, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
dc.identifier.journalAstrophysical Journal
dc.description.noteOpen access journal
dc.description.collectioninformationThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.
dc.eprint.versionFinal published version
dc.source.journaltitleAstrophysical Journal
refterms.dateFOA2023-12-21T18:45:21Z


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© 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.