Fitting the Sagittarius Dwarf Tidal Stream Via Maximum Likelihood

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

We present a maximum likelihood method for determining the spatial properties of tidal debris and those of the Galactic spheroid. This method is then applied to SDSS DR6 data to characterize debris from the Sagitarrius Dwarf tidal stream. Over small spatial extent, a 2.5-degree wide wedge, the debris is modeled as a cylinder with a density that falls off as a Gaussian with distance from the axis. The Galactic spheroid component is modeled using a Hernquist profile. We utilize stars with the colors of blue F turnoff stars having the reddening corrected colors: 0.1 < g - r < 0.3. We also assume that the absolute magnitude of these F turnoff stars are distributed as a Gaussian about a mean, M(g) = 4.2. The effectiveness and correctness of our algorithm is tested using a data set simulated to mimic that seen in the SDSS data. We then apply the algorithm to data extracted from the SDSS DR6 database on a wedge-by-wedge basis, by which we create a piece-wise view of the Sagittarius debris over the entire sky. This also allows for the comparison of the spheroid component at different positions on the sky. We then use our algorithm to separate the stellar data into two distinct catalogs: one with the spatial properties of the debris and one with the characteristics of the spheroid. This provides an effective means to examine the separate populations and to facilitate the study of stream kinematics and inspect the smooth nature of the spheroid.

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