Sky Position Research Articles

Neutron star-black hole mergers in next generation gravitational-wave observatories

Observations by the current generation of gravitational-wave detectors have been pivotal in expanding our understanding of the universe. Although tens of exciting compact binary mergers have been observed, neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers remained elusive until they were first confidently detected in 2020. The number of NSBH detections is expected to increase with sensitivity improvements of the current detectors and the proposed construction of new observatories over the next decade. In this work, we explore the NSBH detection and measurement capabilities of these upgraded detectors and new observatories using the following metrics: network detection efficiency and detection rate as a function of redshift, distributions of the signal-to-noise ratios, the measurement accuracy of intrinsic and extrinsic parameters, the accuracy of sky position measurement, and the number of early-warning alerts that can be sent to facilitate the electromagnetic follow-up. Additionally, we evaluate the prospects of performing multimessenger observations of NSBH systems by reporting the number of expected kilonova detections with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. We find that as many as $\mathcal{O}(10)$ kilonovae can be detected by these two telescopes every year, depending on the population of the NSBH systems and the equation of state of neutron stars.

Detection of Multiple Phase Space Overdensities of GSE Stars by Orbit Integration

In N-body simulations, nearly radial mergers can form shell-like overdensities in the sky position and phase space (r − v r ) due to the combination of dynamical friction and tidal stripping. The merger event of Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) has provided a unique opportunity to study the shells in the phase space. To search for them, we integrate the orbits of 5949 GSE-related halo K giants from the LAMOST survey and record their positions at all time intervals in the r − v r diagram. After the subtraction of a smoothed background, we find six significant and complete thin chevron-like overdensities. The apocenters r apo of stars in the six chevrons are around 6.75, 12.75, 18.75, 25.25, 27.25, and 30.25 kpc. These chevrons reveal the multiple pileups of GSE stars at different apocenters. The application of a different Milky Way mass M vir will change the opening angles of these chevrons, while leaving their apocenters almost unchanged. By comparing with a recent study of the phase space overdensities of local halo stars from the Gaia Radial Velocity Spectrometer survey, our results are more inclined to a medium M vir of 1012 M ⊙. The application of a nonaxisymmetric Galactic potential with a steadily rotating bar has a blurring effect on the appearance of these chevron-like overdensities, especially for the chevrons with r apo > 20 kpc.

THE TOLAKI CALENDAR SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING GOOD AND BAD DAYS

The Tolaki people continue to base their way of life on traditions like the Tolaki calendar for identifying good and bad days. The Tolaki tribe employs a tool that is often employed as a weather forecast or as a guide for the community to carry out certain actions to ascertain this. The formulation of the issue is brought up by the author, who asks questions like: How does the Tolaki calendar system work?, How are the good and bad days for the Tolaki people determined?, and How is astronomical research related to the Tolaki calendar system?. The Tolaki Culture Book, which is processed with journals linked to the Tolaki Tribal Calendar System, is used in this research technique, which is a library method. It is studied descriptively and presented qualitatively. These are the study's findings: The moon's position in the night sky is used as the basis for the Tolaki calendar. The meanings of the names of the days in the month are used by the Tolaki people to identify good and bad days, and they use Naga Hari, Kutika, and Bilangari to ascertain the precise day and hour. The Tolaki calendar is identical to the Hijri calendar in astronomy since it uses a lunar calendar that keeps track of the moon's orbit. The Tolaki community uses the concept of good days and bad days as a guide for carrying out activities, but it cannot be utilized as a model for how to do Islamic devotion.

Can the Gravitational Effect of Planet X be Detected in Current-era Tracking of the Known Major and Minor Planets?

Using Fisher information matrices, we forecast the uncertainties σ M on the measurement of a “Planet X” at heliocentric distance d X via its tidal gravitational field’s action on the known planets. Using planetary measurements currently in hand, including ranging from the Juno, Cassini, and Mars-orbiting spacecraft, we forecast a median uncertainty (over all sky positions) of A 5σ detection of a 5 M ⊕ Planet X at d X = 400 au should be possible over the full sky but over only 5% of the sky at d X = 800 au. The gravity of an undiscovered Earth- or Mars-mass object should be detectable over 90% of the sky to a distance of 260 or 120 au, respectively. Upcoming Mars ranging improves these limits only slightly. We also investigate the power of high-precision astrometry of ≈8000 Jovian Trojans over the 2023–2035 period from the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). We find that the dominant systematic errors in optical Trojan astrometry (photocenter motion, nongravitational forces, and differential chromatic refraction) can be solved internally with minimal loss of information. The Trojan data allow cross-checks with Juno/Cassini/Mars ranging, but do not significantly improve the best achievable σ M values until they are ≳10× more accurate than expected from LSST. The ultimate limiting factor in searches for a Planet X tidal field is confusion with the tidal field created by the fluctuating quadrupole moment of the Kuiper Belt as its members orbit. This background will not, however, become the dominant source of uncertainty until the data get substantially better than they are today.

Search for continuous gravitational waves from PSR J0437−4715 with a hidden Markov model in O3 LIGO data

Results are presented for a semi-coherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the millisecond pulsar PSR J0437$-$4715, using a hidden Markov model to track spin wandering, in LIGO data from the third LIGO-Virgo observing run. This is the first search for PSR J0437$-$4715 to cover a wide frequency range from $60$ Hz to $500$ Hz and simultanously accommodate random spin deviations from the secular radio ephemeris. Two searches are performed with plausible coherence times of $10$ days and $30$ days, as the frequency wandering time-scale of the gravitational-wave-emitting quadrupole is unknown. The former analysis yields no surviving candidates, while the latter yields five candidates after the veto procedure. The detection statistic of each of the five survivors is mapped as a function of sky position, in preparation for follow-up analyses in the future, e.g. during LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA fourth observing run.

Variance of the Hellings-Downs correlation

Gravitational waves (GWs) create correlations in the arrival times of pulses from different pulsars. The expected correlation $\mu(\gamma)$ as a function of the angle $\gamma$ between the directions to two pulsars was calculated by Hellings and Downs for an isotropic and unpolarized GW background, and several pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations are working to observe these. We ask: given a set of noise-free observations, are they consistent with that expectation? To answer this, we calculate the expected variance $\sigma^2(\gamma)$ in the correlation for a single GW point source, as pulsar pairs with fixed separation angle $\gamma$ are swept around the sky. We then use this to derive simple analytic expressions for the variance produced by a set of discrete point sources uniformly scattered in space for two cases of interest: (1) point sources radiating GWs at the same frequency, generating confusion noise, and (2) point sources radiating GWs at distinct non-overlapping frequencies. By averaging over all pulsar sky positions at fixed separation angle $\gamma$, we show how this variance may be cleanly split into cosmic variance and pulsar variance, also demonstrating that measurements of the variance can provide information about the nature of GW sources. In a series of technical appendices, we calculate the mean and variance of the Hellings-Downs correlation for an arbitrary (polarized) point source, quantify the impact of neglecting pulsar terms, and calculate the pulsar and cosmic variance for a Gaussian ensemble. The mean and variance of the Gaussian ensemble may also be obtained from the previous discrete-source confusion-noise model in the limit of a high density of weak sources.

Evolving Morphology of Resolved Stellar Einstein Rings

We consider strong gravitational lensing by nearby stars. Using our wave-optical treatment of lensing phenomena, we study Einstein rings that may form around nearby stellar lenses. It is remarkable that these rings are bright and large enough to be detected and resolved by existing instruments. Such lensing events have durations of hours or days, with peak light amplification lasting for several minutes. Many such events may be predicted using the Gaia astrometric catalog. Serendipitous discoveries are also possible. Fortuitous alignments can be used to confirm or discover and study exoplanets. For lenses that have dense stellar regions in their background, these events may occur several time a year, warranting their continuous or recurrent monitoring. Resolved imaging and spectroscopy of the evolving morphology of an Einstein ring offers knowledge about both the lens and the source. The angular size of the Einstein ring amounts to a direct measurement of the lens mass. The changing orientation of the major and minor images of the source offers astrometric information related to the mutual orientation of the objects. The event duration, when the full ring is present, helps to determine the source’s size. The sky position of planetary lensing events constrains the planet’s orbit. Spectroscopy of the ring allows for direct investigations of the source. The frequency and predictability of these events and the wealth of information that can be obtained by imaging motivate observational campaigns using existing facilities and/or construction of new instruments dedicated to the search and study of Einstein rings that are forming around nearby stars. As a specific example, we consider a predicted 2028 lensing of a red giant by α Centauri A and discuss the relevant science campaign.

THE STUDY OF ARABIC CONSTELLATION FROM THE BOOK SUWAR AL-KAWAKIB AL-THABITA USING STELLARIUM SOFTWARE

The constellations originating from Arab civilization were still very little known and studied. Al-Ṣūfi's book, al-Kawākib al-Thābitah, contains the record of coordinates, approximate magnitudes, and star details with graphs. This study examines the difference of stars in the sample constellation, compares the visual appearance of the illustrations on the Stellarium software, and studies the differences between the western constellations and the Arabic constellations. The result shows some differences between the constellations of the almagest and al-Kawākib al-Thābitah in the number of stars in the sample constellations, differences in illustrations from the orientalized figures, and the star magnitude in al-Ṣūfi's work that similar to Ptolemy's works. Al-Sufi identified a total of 134 additional stars, 65 stars located in the Northern constellations, 41 stars in the Zodiac constellation, and 28 stars in the Southern constellations. His observations showed that the magnitude values of 520 stars out of a total of 1022 stars were identical between al-Sufi and Ptolemy. Stellarium provides an excellent visual presentation of the Arabic constellations according to Al-Sufi's book that shows position, illustration, and mapping in the night sky.

Massive black hole binaries in LISA: Multimessenger prospects and electromagnetic counterparts

In the next decade, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect the coalescence of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) in the range $[10^4, 10^8] \, \rm M_{\odot}$, up to $z\sim10$. Their gravitational wave (GW) signal is expected to be accompanied by an electromagnetic counterpart (EMcp), generated by the gas accreting on the binary or on the remnant BH. In this work, we present the number and characteristics (such as redshift and mass distribution, apparent magnitudes or fluxes) of EMcps detectable jointly by LISA and some representative EM telescopes. We combine state-of-the-art astrophysical models for the galaxies formation and evolution to build the MBHBs catalogues, with Bayesian tools to estimate the binary sky position uncertainty from the GW signal. Exploiting additional information from the astrophysical models, such as the amount of accreted gas and the BH spins, we evaluate the expected EM emission in the soft X-ray, optical and radio bands. Overall, we predict between 7 and 21 EMcps in 4 yrs of joint observations by LISA and the considered EM facilities, depending on the astrophysical model. We also explore the impact of the hydrogen and dust obscuration of the optical and X-ray emissions, as well as of the collimation of the radio emission: these effects reduce the number to EMcps to 2 or 3, depending on the astrophysical model, again in 4 yrs of observations. Most of the EMcps are characterised by faint EM emission, challenging the observational capabilities of future telescopes. Finally, we also find that systems with multi-modal sky position posterior distributions represent only a minority of cases and do not affect significantly the number of EMcps.

Premerger localization of intermediate mass binary black holes with LISA and prospects of joint observations with Athena and LSST

The planned Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (LISA) will be able to detect gravitational waves (GWs) from intermediate mass binary black holes (IMBBHs) in the mass range $\sim 10^{2} \mbox{-} 10^{4}\,M_{\odot}$ up to a redshift $z\sim20$. Modulation effects due to orbital motion of LISA around the Sun facilitate precise premerger localization of the sources, which in turn would help in electromagnetic (EM) followups. In this work, we calculate the uncertainties in sky position, luminosity distance, and time of coalescence as a function of time to coalescence. For representative masses of the IMBBHs, we synthesize a population of binaries uniformly located and oriented on a sphere of radius 3 Gpc and compute the projected parameter measurement uncertainties using the Fisher information matrix. We find that for systems with a total mass of $10^3\,M_{\odot}$, the errors in the sky position and luminosity distance are $\sim 0.4\,\text{deg}^2$ and $\sim 6\%$, respectively, one day prior to coalescence. The coalescence time can be predicted with an uncertainty $\lesssim 10$ sec, one day before coalescence. We also find that for $10^3\,M_{\odot}$, around $40\%$ ($100\%$) of the population has a source localization that is smaller than the field of view of Athena (LSST) one day before the merger. These extremely precise measurements can be used to alert ground-based GW detectors and EM telescopes about the time and location of these mergers. We also discuss mechanisms that may produce EM emission from IMBBH mergers and study its detectability using the planned Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) in the optical and Athena in the x-ray bands. Detection of an EM transient may provide us vital clues about the environments where these mergers occur and the distance estimation can pave the way for cosmography.

Bayesian WIMP detection with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Over the past decades Bayesian methods have become increasingly popular in astronomy and physics as stochastic samplers have enabled efficient investigation of high-dimensional likelihood surfaces.In this work we develop a hierarchical Bayesian inference framework to detect the presence of dark matter annihilation events in data from the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Gamma-ray events are weighted based on their measured sky position Ω̂ m and energy Em in order to derive a posterior distribution for the dark matter's velocity averaged cross section 〈σv〉. The dark matter signal model and the astrophysical background model are cast as prior distributions for (Ω̂ m , Em ). The shape of these prior distributions can be fixed based on first-principle models; or one may adopt flexible priors to include theoretical uncertainty, for example, in the dark matter annihilation spectrum or the astrophysical distribution of sky location. We demonstrate the utility of this formalism using simulated data with a Galactic Centre signal from scalar singlet dark-matter model. The sensitivity according to our method is comparable to previous estimates of the CTA sensitivity.

Observing GW190521-like binary black holes and their environment with LISA

Binaries of relatively massive black holes like GW190521 have been proposed to form in dense gas environments, such as the disks of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), and they might be associated with transient electromagnetic counterparts. The interactions of this putative environment with the binary could leave a significant imprint at the low gravitational wave frequencies observable with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). We show that LISA will be able to detect up to ten GW190521-like black hole binaries, with sky position errors $\lesssim1$ deg$^2$. Moreover, it will measure directly various effects due to the orbital motion around the supermassive black hole at the center of the AGN, especially the Doppler modulation and the Shapiro time delay. Thanks to a careful treatment of their frequency domain signal, we were able to perform the full parameter estimation of Doppler and Shapiro-modulated binaries as seen by LISA. We find that the Doppler and Shapiro effects will allow for measuring the AGN parameters (radius and inclination of the orbit around the AGN, central black hole mass) with up to percent-level precision. Properly modeling these low-frequency environmental effects is crucial to determine the binary formation history, as well as to avoid biases in the reconstruction of the source parameters and in tests of general relativity with gravitational waves.

Colette’in L’Étoile Vesper başlıklı yapıtında ikinci dünya savaşı, yaşlılık ve umudu koruma çabası

Colette’in (1873-1954) L’Étoile Vesper başlıklı kitabı, yazarın son dönem yapıtları arasında yer alır. İlk olarak Kasım 1945-Ocak 1946 arasında ELLE dergisinin ilk sayılarında basılan L’Étoile Vesper, 1946 yılında Milieu du Monde yayınevi tarafından yayımlanır. Yapıt, sağlık sorunları nedeniyle artık Palais-Royal’deki dairesinden çıkamayan yazarın, İkinci Dünya Savaşı Paris’ine dair izlenimlerini, yaşlılığın getirdiği sağlık sorunlarını, geçmiş anılarını ve gündelik yaşamın zevklerini biraraya getirir. Artrit sorunu nedeniyle yürüyemeyen yazar, dışarıda yaşanan tehditkar savaşı penceresinden gözlemlerken geçmişin anımsattıklarını, yakın geçmişin ve şimdiki zamanının hissettirdikleri ile bağlantılandırır. Colette, olgunluk dönemi ürünü olan L’Étoile Vesper’de savaşın karanlığını ve yaşlılığın hissettirdiği karamsarlığı yaşam ve yazın deneyimi aracılığıyla yendiği bir dünyayı, yapıtlarının geneline hakim kadınsal bir duyarlılık üzerinden aktarır. Kısıtlı bir çevrenin kendisine sunabileceği tüm olanaklardan, kokular, sesler, renkler ve gökyüzünden ilham alan yazar bir yandan kendini bu sınırlı dünyanın merkezinde konumlandırır ve dış dünyanın acı verici gerçeğini, kurduğu bu küçük dünyanın uyumu ile dengelerken diğer yandan işgal altındaki Paris’in ve sağlık sorunlarının dayattığı kısıtlanmışlık düşüncesine karşı bir özgürlük alanı oluşturur. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışmada, tüm yazın yaşamı boyunca kendini özgürce ifade etmiş Colette’in L’Étoile Vesper başlıklı yapıtında, İkinci Dünya Savaşına dair gözlemlerinin yanı sıra, savaşın ve yaşlılığın hissettirdiği karamsarlığa karşı umudu koruma çabasının incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır.

Searching for a ringdown overtone in GW150914

We reanalyze the GW150914 postmerger data searching for quasinormal modes beyond the fundamental, quadrupolar mode. There is currently an ongoing disagreement in the literature about whether, and to what extent, the data contains evidence for a quasinormal mode overtone. We use a frequency-domain approach to ringdown data analysis that was recently proposed by the authors. Our analysis has several advantages compared to other analyses performed mainly in the time domain; in particular, the source sky position and the ringdown start time are marginalized over (as opposed to simply being fixed) as part of a Bayesian ringdown analysis. We find tentative evidence for an overtone in GW150914, but at a lower significance than reported elsewhere. Our preferred analysis, marginalizing over the uncertainty in the time of peak strain amplitude, gives a posterior on the overtone amplitude peaked away from zero at $\ensuremath{\sim}1.8\ensuremath{\sigma}$.

Tucana B: A Potentially Isolated and Quenched Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy at D ≈ 1.4 Mpc* *This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

We report the discovery of Tucana B, an isolated ultra-faint dwarf galaxy at a distance of D = 1.4 Mpc. Tucana B was found during a search for ultra-faint satellite companions to the known dwarfs in the outskirts of the Local Group, although its sky position and distance indicate the nearest galaxy to be ∼500 kpc distant. Deep ground-based imaging resolves Tucana B into stars, and it displays a sparse red giant branch consistent with an old, metal-poor stellar population analogous to that seen in the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way, albeit at fainter apparent magnitudes. Tucana B has a half-light radius of 80 ± 40 pc and an absolute magnitude of mag ( L ⊙), which is again comparable to the Milky Way’s ultra-faint satellites. There is no evidence for a population of young stars, either in the optical color–magnitude diagram or in GALEX archival ultraviolet imaging, with the GALEX data indicating for star formation on ≲100 Myr timescales. Given its isolation and physical properties, Tucana B may be a definitive example of an ultra-faint dwarf that has been quenched by reionization, providing strong confirmation of a key driver of galaxy formation and evolution at the lowest mass scales. It also signals a new era of ultra-faint dwarf galaxy discovery at the extreme edges of the Local Group.

The Spatial Distribution of Gamma-Ray Bursts with Measured Redshifts from 24 Years of Observation

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous objects known: they outshine their host galaxies, making them ideal candidates for probing large-scale structure. Our aim is to determine the Spatial Two-Point Correlation Function of the GRBs with spectroscopic redshifts. We used all observations till 4 June 2021, and we also split the data according to the origin of the redshift (afterglow or host galaxy). We analyzed the possible correlation between the GRB redshift and sky position. There is only one region, called the Faraway GRB Patch, where nine distant GRBs shows deviation from the randomness with an ≈1% significance, showing that the sky and the radial component of the GRB distribution could be factorized and both can be determined independently. The GRBs’ cumulative monthly distribution was used to show that it is impossible to synthesize the Sky Exposure Function, even from the perfect observational logs. We estimated the Sky Exposure Function using the Gaussian kernel, and with the radial distribution, it was used for the estimation of the Spatial Two-Point Correlation Function. Monte Carlo simulations were used to determine the Poissonian errors. Our result shows that the current Spatial Two-Point Correlation Function estimations are consistent with zero for the full and the afterglow/host galaxy datasets.

Detection of gravitational wave mixed polarization with single space-based detectors

General Relativity predicts only two tensor polarization modes for gravitational waves while at most six possible polarization modes are allowed in the general metric theory of gravity. The number of polarization modes is determined by the specific modified theory of gravity. Therefore, the determination of polarization modes can be used to test gravitational theory. We introduce a concrete data analysis pipeline for a space-based detector such as LISA to detect the polarization modes of gravitational waves. This method can be used for monochromatic gravitational waves emitted from any compact binary system with a known sky position and frequency to detect mixtures of tensor and extra polarization modes. We use the source $\mathrm{J}0806.3+1527$ with one year of simulation data as an example to show that this approach is capable of probing pure and mixed polarizations without knowing the exact polarization modes. We also find that the ability of detection of extra polarization depends on the gravitational-wave source location and the amplitude of nontensorial components.

Searching for pulsars associated with polarised point sources using LOFAR: Initial discoveries from the TULIPP project

Discovering radio pulsars, particularly millisecond pulsars (MSPs), is important for a range of astrophysical applications, such as testing theories of gravity or probing the magneto-ionic interstellar medium. We aim to discover pulsars that may have been missed in previous pulsar searches by leveraging known pulsar observables (primarily polarisation) in the sensitive, low-frequency radio images from the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS), and have commenced the Targeted search, using LoTSS images, for polarised pulsars (TULIPP) survey. For this survey, we identified linearly and circularly polarised point sources with flux densities brighter than 2 mJy in LoTSS images at a centre frequency of 144 MHz with a 48 MHz bandwidth. Over 40 known pulsars, half of which are MSPs, were detected as polarised sources in the LoTSS images and excluded from the survey. We have obtained beam-formed LOFAR observations of 30 candidates, which were searched for pulsations using coherent de-dispersion. Here, we present the results of the first year of the TULIPP survey. We discovered two pulsars, PSRs J1049+5822 and J1602+3901, with rotational periods ofP = 0.73 s and 3.7 ms, respectively. We also detected a further five known pulsars (two slowly-rotating pulsars and three MSPs) for which accurate sky positions were not available to allow a unique cross-match with LoTSS sources. This targeted survey presents a relatively efficient method by which pulsars, particularly MSPs, may be discovered using the flexible observing modes of sensitive radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders/precursors, particularly since wide-area all-sky surveys using coherent de-dispersion are currently computationally infeasible.

An Observed Trend Between Mid‐Latitudes Km‐Scale Irregularities and Medium‐Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances

AbstractWe describe observations of a trend between the level of km‐scale irregularity activity and the amplitudes of medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) at mid‐latitudes using data from December 2019 through June 2021. These include measurements of both heigh‐specific and vertically integrated quantities. Region‐specific, bottom‐side measurements were made with the dynasonde system near Wallops Island (WI) and included phase structure function parameters related to km‐scale irregularities as well as height‐specific tilts/density gradients, which are especially sensitive to MSTIDs. A complementary data set was derived from the nearby Deployable Low‐band Ionosphere and Transient Experiment (DLITE) array in southern Maryland. The DLITE array was used to measure the vertically integrated irregularity index, CkL, via scintillometry of bright cosmic radio sources at 35 MHz. Transverse gradients in the line‐of‐sight total electron content (TEC) were also measured with DLITE using apparent shifts in the sources' sky positions. Relatively simple layer‐based models for the vertical distribution of km‐scale irregularities applied to dynasonde‐measured properties yielded results that correlated well with DLITE measurements of CkL. Similarly, spectral analysis showed that fluctuation amplitudes of vertically integrated bottom‐side density gradients derived from dynasonde data were well correlated with DLITE TEC gradient measurements. A significant trend was found between CkL and TEC gradient MSTID amplitudes among DLITE‐based data as well as among the extrapolated dynasonde measurements. Additionally, within the bottom‐side F‐region, irregularity levels were found to be well correlated with fluctuation amplitudes for the tilt as measured with the WI dynasonde.

Revisit NGC 5466 tidal stream withGaia, SDSS/SEGUE, and LAMOST

ABSTRACTBy mining the data from Gaia Early Data Release 3, Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration Data Release 16, and Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope Data Release 8, 11 member stars of the NGC 5466 tidal stream are detected and 7 of them are newly identified. To reject contaminators, a variety of cuts are applied in sky position, colour–magnitude diagram, metallicity, proper motion, and radial velocity. We compare our data to a mock stream generated by modelling the cluster’s disruption under a smooth Galactic potential plus the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The concordant trends in phase space between the model and observations imply that the stream might have been perturbed by the LMC. The two most distant stars among the 11 detected members trace the stream’s length to 60° of sky, supporting and extending the previous length of 45°. Given that NGC 5466 is so distant and potentially has a longer tail than previously thought, we expect that the NGC 5466 tidal stream could be a useful tool in constraining the Milky Way gravitational field.