An Upper Limit to the Age of the Galactic Bar

Details An Upper Limit to the Age of the Galactic Bar An Upper Limit to the Age of the Galactic Bar

2002-06-12

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0206199v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

accepted by ApJ Letters; 13 pages, 4 eps figures

Scientific paper

10.1086/342278

Using data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), we identify a population of infrared carbon (IR C) stars with J-K >= 2 in the Milky Way. These stars are shown to trace the stellar bar previously identified in IR and optical surveys. The properties of C stars strongly suggest that they are of intermediate age. We conclude that the bar is likely to have formed more recently than 3 Gyr ago, and must be younger than 6 Gyr. Implications and further tests of this conclusion are briefly discussed.

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