Journal article
Candidate RR Lyrae Stars Found in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data
The Astronomical journal, v 120(2), pp 963-977
01 Aug 2000
Abstract
We present a sample of 148 candidate RR Lyrae stars selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) commissioning data for about 100 deg
2
of sky surveyed twice with Δ
t
= 1.9946 days. Although the faint-magnitude limit of the SDSS allows us to detect RR Lyrae stars to large Galactocentric distances (∼100 kpc, or
r
* ∼ 21), we find no candidates fainter than
r
* ∼ 20, i.e., farther than ∼65 kpc from the Galactic center. On the assumption that all 148 candidates are indeed RR Lyrae stars (contamination by other species of variable star is probably less than 10%), we find that their volume density has roughly a power-law dependence on Galactocentric radius,
R
-2.7±0.2
, between 10 and 50 kpc and drops abruptly at
R
∼ 50–60 kpc, possibly indicating a sharp edge to the stellar halo as traced by RR Lyrae stars. The Galactic distribution of stars in this sample is very inhomogeneous and shows a clump of over 70 stars at about 45 kpc from the Galactic center. This clump is also detected in the distribution of nonvariable objects with RR Lyrae star colors. When sources in the clump are excluded, the best power-law fit becomes consistent with the
R
-3
distribution found from surveys of bright RR Lyrae stars. These results imply that the halo contains clumpy overdensities inhomogeneously distributed within a smooth
R
-3
background, with a possible cutoff at ∼50 kpc.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Candidate RR Lyrae Stars Found in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data
- Creators
- Željko Ivezić - Princeton UniversityJ. E. G. PeekKristian Finlator - Princeton UniversityGillian R. Knapp - Princeton UniversityBrian Yanny - Fermi National Accelerator LaboratoryTimothy A. McKay - University of Michigan–Ann ArborSusan Amrose - University of Michigan–Ann ArborKevin Krisciunas - University of WashingtonBeth Willman - University of WashingtonScott Anderson - University of WashingtonChris Schaber - University of WashingtonDawn Erb - University of WashingtonChelsea LoganChris Stubbs - University of WashingtonBing Chen - Johns Hopkins UniversityEric Neilsen - Johns Hopkins UniversityAlan Uomoto - Johns Hopkins UniversityJeffrey R. Pier - United States Naval ObservatoryXiaohui Fan - Princeton UniversityJames E. Gunn - Princeton UniversityRobert H. Lupton - Princeton UniversityConstance M. Rockosi - University of ChicagoDavid Schlegel - Princeton UniversityMichael A. Strauss - Princeton UniversityJames Annis - Fermi National Accelerator LaboratoryJon BrinkmannIstván Csabai - Eötvös Loránd UniversityMamoru Doi - The University of TokyoMasataka Fukugita - The University of TokyoGregory S. Hennessy - United States Naval ObservatoryRobert B. Hindsley - United States Naval Research LaboratoryBruce Margon - University of WashingtonJeffrey A. Munn - United States Naval ObservatoryHeidi Jo Newberg - Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteDonald P. Schneider - Pennsylvania State UniversityJ. Allyn Smith - University of Michigan–Ann ArborGyula P. Szokoly - Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics PotsdamAniruddha R. Thakar - Johns Hopkins UniversityMichael S. Vogeley - Princeton UniversityPatrick Waddell - University of WashingtonNaoki Yasuda - National Astronomical Observatory of JapanDonald G. York - University of ChicagoSDSS Collaboration
- Publication Details
- The Astronomical journal, v 120(2), pp 963-977
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000089040800037
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0001309778
- Other Identifier
- 991021866363604721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Astronomy & Astrophysics