We use K-giant stars selected from the LAMOST DR5 to study the variation of the rotational velocity of the galactic halo at different space positions. Modelling the rotational velocity distribution with both the halo and disk components, we find that the rotational velocity of the halo population decreases almost linearly with increasing vertical distance to the galactic disk plane, $Z$, at fixed galactocentric radius, $R$. The samples are separated into two parts with
$6<R<12$ kpc and $12<R<20$ kpc. We derive that the decreasing rates along $Z$ for the two subsamples are $-3.07\pm0.63$ and $-1.89\pm0.37$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$, respectively. Compared with the TNG simulations, we suggest that this trend is probably caused by the interaction between the disk and halo. The results from the simulations show that only the oblate halo can provide a decreasing rotational velocity with an increasing $Z$. This indicates that the Galactic halo is oblate with galactocentric radius $R<20$ kpc. On the other hand, the flaring of the disk component (mainly the thick disk) is clearly traced by this study, with $R$ between 12 and 20 kpc, the disk can vertically extend to $6\sim10$ kpc above the disk plane. What is more interesting is that, we find the
Gaia-Enceladus-Sausage (GES) component has a significant contribution only in the halo with $R<12$ kpc, i.e. a fraction of 23$-$47\%. While in the outer subsample, the contribution is too low to be well constrained.
We study the relation between halo concentration and mass (c-M relation) using the Seventh and Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR7 and DR8) galaxy catalogue. Assuming that the satellite galaxies follow the distribution of dark matter, we derive the halo concentration by fitting the satellite radial profile with a Nararro Frank and White (NFW) format. The derived c-M relation covers a wide halo mass range from $10^{11.6}$ to $10^{14.1} \rm\ M_\odot$. We confirm the anti-correlation between the halo mass and concentration as predicted in cosmological simulations. Our re…
We present the stellar density profile of the outer halo of the Galaxy traced over a range of Galactocentric radii from $15< R_{GC} < 220$ kpc by blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars. These stars are identified photometrically using deep $u-$band imaging from the new Canada-France-Imaging-Survey (CFIS) that reaches 24.5 mag. This is combined with $griz$ bands from Pan-STARRS 1 and covers a total of $\sim4000$ deg$^2$ of the northern sky. We present a new method to select BHB stars that has low contamination from blue stragglers and high completeness. We use this sample to measure and parameteriz…
Kinematic studies have produced accurate measurements of the total dark matter mass and mean dark matter density within the optical extent of galaxies, for large samples of objects. Here we consider theoretical predictions for the latter quantity, $\barρ_{dm}$, measured within the isophotal radius $R_{23.5}$, for isolated halos with universal density profiles. Through a combination of empirical scaling relations, we show that $\barρ_{dm}$ is expected to depend weakly on halo mass and strongly on redshift. When galaxy halos fall into larger groups or clusters they become tidally stripped, reduc…
We present an analysis of the kinematic properties of stellar populations in the Galactic halo, making use of over 100,000 main sequence turnoff (MSTO) stars observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. After dividing the Galactic halo into an inner-halo region (IHR) and outer-halo region (OHR), based on the spatial variation of carbon-to-iron ratios in the sample, we find that stars in the OHR exhibit a clear retrograde motion of $-$49 $\pm$ 4 km s$^{-1}$ and a more spherical distribution of stellar orbits, while stars in the IHR have zero net rotation ($-$3 $\pm$ 1 km s$^{-1}$) with a much more…
We explore the possibility to systematically study the extended, hot gaseous halos of low-redshift galaxies with Coronal Broad Ly alpha Absorbers (CBLAs). These are weak, thermally broadenend HI absorption lines arising from the tiny fraction of neutral hydrogen that resides in the collisionally ionized, million-degree halo gas in these galaxies. Using a semi-analytic approach, we model the spatial density and temperature distribution of hot coronal gas to predict strength, spectral shape, and cross section of CBLAs as a function of galaxy-halo mass and line-of-sight impact parameter. For viri…
With the help of Gaia DR2, we are able to obtain the full 6-D phase space information for stars from LAMOST DR5. With high precision of position, velocity, and metallicity, the rotation of the local stellar halo is presented using the K giant stars with [Fe/H]$<-1$ dex within 4 kpc from the Sun. By fitting the rotational velocity distribution with three Gaussian components, stellar halo, disk, and a counter-rotating hot population, we find that the local halo progradely rotates with $V_T=+27^{+4}_{-5}$ km s$^{-1}$ providing the local standard of rest velocity of $V_{LSR}=232$ km s$^{-1}$. Mean…
Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars: Substructure in the Local Halo as Seen in the Grid Giant Star Survey Including Extended Tidal Debris from Omega Centauri
We construct a large halo K-giant sample by combining the positions, distances, radial velocities, and metallicities of over 13,000 LAMOST DR5 halo K giants with the Gaia DR2 proper motions, which covers a Galactocentric distance range of 5-120 kpc. Using a position-velocity clustering estimator (the 6Distance), we statistically quantify the presence of position-velocity substructure at high significance: K giants have more close pairs in position-velocity space than a smooth stellar halo. We find that the amount of substructure in the halo increases with increasing distance and metallicity. W…
First statistical constraints on galactic scale outflows properties traced by their extended Mg II emission with MUSE
Leibniz-Institut for Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦莱布尼茨天体物理研究所）；Univ of Lyon1, Ens de Lyon, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (CRAL) UMR5574（里昂第一大学、巴黎高等师范学院、法国国家科学研究中心、里昂天体物理研究中心）；NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory（美国国家光学-红外天文研究实验室）；Department of General Systems Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo（东京大学大学院人文社会系研究科综合文化学研究科）
M105 is an early-type galaxy in the nearby Leo I group, the closest galaxy group to contain all galaxy types and therefore an excellent environment to explore the low-mass end of intra-group light (IGL) assembly. We present a new extended kinematic survey of planetary nebulae (PNe) in M105 and the surrounding 30'x30' in the Leo I group with the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph. We use PNe as kinematic tracers of the diffuse stellar light in the halo and IGL and employ Gaussian mixture models to separate contributions from the companion galaxy NGC 3384 and associate PNe with halo and IGL component…
We present a study of the influence of the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) on the density shape of the Galactic stellar halo using 11624 K giants from the LAMOST survey. Every star is assigned a probability of being a member of the GSE based on its spherical velocities and metallicity by a Gaussian Mixture Model. We divide the stellar halo into two parts by the obtained probabilities, of which one is composed of the GSE members and defined as the GSE-related halo, and the other one is referred to as the GSE-removed halo. Using a non-parametric method, the radial number density profiles of the two…
We present an online catalog of distance determinations for $\rm 6036$ K giants, most of which are members of the Milky Way's stellar halo. Their medium-resolution spectra from SDSS/SEGUE are used to derive metallicities and rough gravity estimates, along with radial velocities. Distance moduli are derived from a comparison of each star's apparent magnitude with the absolute magnitude of empirically calibrated color-luminosity fiducials, at the observed $(g-r)_0$ color and spectroscopic [Fe/H]. We employ a probabilistic approach that makes it straightforward to properly propagate the errors in…
We explore the contribution of the Gaia-Sausage to the stellar halo of the Milky Way by making use of a Gaussian Mixture model (GMM) and applying it to halo star samples of LAMOST K giants, SEGUE K giants, and SDSS blue horizontal branch stars. The GMM divides the stellar halo into two parts, of which one represents a more metal-rich and highly radially biased component associated with an ancient, head-on collision referred to as the Gaia-Sausage, and the other one is a more metal-poor and isotropic halo. A symmetric bimodal Gaussian is used to describe the distribution of spherical velocity o…
We present a comparison of the interstellar medium traced by [CII] (ALMA), and ionised halo gas traced by Lya (MUSE), in and around QSO host galaxies at z~6. To date, 18 QSOs at this redshift have been studied with both MUSE and high-resolution ALMA imaging; of these, 8 objects display a Lya halo. Using datacubes matched in velocity resolution, we compare and contrast the spatial and kinematic information of the Lya halos and the host galaxies' [CII] (and dust-continuum) emission. We find that the Lya halos extend typically 3-30 times beyond the interstellar medium of the host galaxies. The ma…
We measured [Fe/H] and [$α$/Fe] using spectral synthesis of low-resolution stellar spectroscopy for 70 individual red giant branch stars across four fields spanning the outer disk, Giant Stellar Stream (GSS), and inner halo of M31. Fields at M31-centric projected distances of 23 kpc in the halo, 12 kpc in the halo, 22 kpc in the GSS, and 26 kpc in the outer disk are $α$-enhanced, with $\langle$[$α$/Fe]$\rangle$ = 0.43, 0.50, 0.41, and 0.58, respectively. The 23 kpc and 12 kpc halo fields are relatively metal-poor, with $\langle$[Fe/H]$\rangle$ = $-$1.54 and $-$1.30, whereas the 22 kpc GSS and …
We analyze the anisotropy profile of the Milky Way's smooth, diffuse stellar halo using SDSS/SEGUE blue horizontal branch stars and SDSS/SEGUE and LAMOST K giants. These intrinsically luminous stars allow us to probe the halo to approximately 100 kpc from the Galactic center. Line-of-sight velocities, distances, metallicities, and proper motions are available for all stars via SDSS/SEGUE, LAMOST, and Gaia, and we use these data to construct a full 7D set consisting of positions, space motions, and metallicity. We remove substructure from our samples using integrals of motion based on the metho…
Although not predicted by standard stellar evolution, the surface abundance of light elements, such as lithium (Li), carbon, and nitrogen, changes during the red giant branch (RGB) as a result of extra-mixing. This is associated usually with thermohaline mixing acting after the RGB bump. Peculiar Li-enriched RGB stars might also be related to either enhanced extra-mixing or pollution from external sources. We measure the Li abundance and carbon isotopic ratio 12C/13C in a sample of 166 field red giants with -0.3<[Fe/H]<0.2, targeted by the EXPRESS radial velocity program to analyze the effects…
Red clump stars are commonly used to map the reddening and morphology of the inner regions of the Milky Way. We use the new photometric catalogues of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea survey to achieve twice the spatial resolution of previous reddening maps for Galactic longitudes $-10^{\circ}<l<10^{\circ}$ and latitudes $-1.5^{\circ}<b<1.5^{\circ}$. We use these de-reddened catalogues to construct the $K_{s}$ luminosity function around the red clump in the Galactic plane. We show that the secondary peak (fainter than the red clump) detected in these regions does not correspond to the bulg…
We present the first measurements of [Fe/H] and [$α$/Fe] abundances, obtained using spectral synthesis modeling, for red giant branch stars in M31's giant stellar stream. The spectroscopic observations, obtained at a projected distance of 17 kpc from M31's center, yielded 61 stars with [Fe/H] measurements, including 21 stars with [$α$/Fe] measurements, from 112 targets identified as M31 stars. The [Fe/H] measurements confirm the expectation from photometric metallicity estimates that stars in this region of M31's halo are relatively metal-rich compared to stars in the MW's inner halo: more tha…
M104 (NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy) is a mysterious massive early-type galaxy that shows a dominant bulge and a prominent disk. However, the presence of a halo in M104 has been elusive, and it is not yet known how M104 has acquired such a peculiar structure. Using wide ($\sim2$ deg$^2$) and deep $ugi$ images of M104 obtained with the CFHT/MegaCam, we detect a large number of globular clusters (GCs) found out to $R\approx35'$ ($\sim100$ kpc). The color distribution of these GCs shows two subpopulations: a blue (metal-poor) system and a red (metal-rich) system. The total number of GCs is estima…
uGMRT and MeerKAT observation of RXCJ0232-4420: a quiet cluster with a giant radio halo
National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究院国家射电天文中心）；International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究院国际理论科学中心）；National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)（国家射电天文台）
We report on the global structure of the Milky Way (MW) stellar halo up to its outer boundary based on the analysis of blue-horizontal branch stars (BHBs). These halo tracers are extracted from the $(g,r,i,z)$ band multi-photometry in the internal data release of the on-going Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) surveyed over $\sim550$~deg$^2$ area. In order to select most likely BHBs by removing blue straggler stars (BSs) and other contamination in a statistically significant manner, we have developed and applied an extensive Bayesian method, instead of the simple color cuts a…
To investigate the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) population in the Galactic halo, we search for pulsating AGB stars at a heliocentric distance over 50kpc. Our research is based on the Catalina Southern Survey (CSS) catalogue of variables, comprising 1286 long-period variables (LPVs) with declination less than -20deg. We first focus on the 77 stars in the cap abs(b)>30deg for which spectral M-type or C-type classification can be derived from Hamburg-ESO objective prism spectra. Most of these are oxygen-rich (M-type) and very few are carbon rich. The periods are in the range 100-500 days, and CS…
In the present paper, we aim to determine the kinematical properties, velocity ellipsoid, and Oort constants using a sample of halo red giants. The study is based mainly on the space and radial velocities of about 1583 red giant stars collected from the SEGUE-1 and SEGUE-2 surveys. We divided the sample into three subsamples, the inner halo, the outer halo and the stars near the galactic plane. The fitting of the radial velocity equation gives a the mean of Oort constants, A = 15.6 +- 1.6 km s-1 kpc-1 and B= -13.9 +- 1.8 km s-1 kpc-1, the angular velocity |A-B|= 29.5 +- 0.2 km s-1 kpc-1 implyi…
We have used hydrodynamical simulations to model the formation of the closest giant elliptical galaxy, Centaurus A. We find that a single major merger event with a mass ratio up to 1.5, and which has happened ~2 Gyr ago, is able to reproduce many of its properties, including galaxy kinematics, the inner gas disk, stellar halo ages and metallicities, and numerous faint features observed in the halo. The elongated halo shape is mostly made of progenitor residuals deposited by the merger, which also contribute to stellar shells observed in the Centaurus A halo. The current model also reproduces t…
Chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge as traced by microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars. II. Ages, metallicities, detailed elemental abundances, and connections to the Galactic thick disc
The anisotropy parameter $β$ characterizes the extent to which orbits in stellar systems are predominantly radial or tangential, and is likely to constrain, for the stellar halo of the Milky Way, scenarios for its formation and evolution. We have measured the anisotropy $β$ as a function of Galactocentric radius from $5-100$ kpc for over 8600 metal poor ([Fe/H] $<-1.3$) halo K giants from the LAMOST catalog with line-of-sight velocities and distances, matched to proper motions from the second $Gaia$ data release. We construct full 6-D positions and velocities for the K giants to directly measu…
The stellar mass in the halo of the Milky Way is notoriously difficult to determine, owing to the paucity of its stars in the solar neighbourhood. With tentative evidence from $\it{Gaia}$ that the nearby stellar halo is dominated by a massive accretion event -- referred to as $\it{Gaia-Enceladus}$ or Sausage -- these constraints are now increasingly urgent. We measure the mass in kinematically selected mono-abundance populations (MAPs) of the stellar halo between $-3 <$ [Fe/H] $< -1$ and $0.0 <$ [Mg/Fe] $< 0.4$ using red giant star counts from APOGEE DR14. We find that MAPs are well fit by sin…
