Smooth, Squashed And Rotating: Not The Stellar Halo We Used To Know

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

The phase-space structure of the stellar halo is intimately linked to the formation history of the Galaxy. In this talk I will discuss the rotation properties and spatial structure of the stellar halo as traced by Blue Horizontal Branch (BHB) stars. Using SDSS spectroscopic data I find an apparent dichotomy between relatively metal-rich and metal-poor stars. I argue that a retrograde signal in the metal-poor stars is due to an underestimate of the Local Standard or Rest while the kinematic signature of the metal-rich stars may be linked to a (massive) accretion event. In addition, I introduce a new method to discern BHB stars from Blue Straggler stars using a colour dependent membership probability, thus circumventing the need for spectroscopic data. This new method is applied to a sample of A-type stars selected from the latest SDSS DR8 photometric catalog. I find that the (inner) stellar halo is 'squashed, broken but smooth' and discuss the implications of this result. Finally, I compare these observational results to state-of-the-art cosmological simulations.

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