Identifying Stellar Streams in Gaia DR2 with Data Mining Techniques. (arXiv:1907.02527v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Borsato_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nicholas W. Borsato</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Martell_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sarah L. Martell</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Simpson_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jeffrey D. Simpson</a>
Streams of stars from captured dwarf galaxies and dissolved globular clusters
are identifiable through the similarity of their orbital parameters, a fact
that remains true long after the streams have dispersed spatially. We calculate
the integrals of motion for 44855 stars, to a distance of 4 kpc from the Sun,
which have full and accurate 6D phase space positions in the Gaia DR2
catalogue. We then apply a novel combination of data mining, numerical and
statistical techniques to search for stellar streams. This process returns
seven high-confidence streams (including four that were not previously known),
all of which display tight clustering in the integral of motion space.
Colour-magnitude diagrams indicate that these streams are relatively simple,
old, metal-poor populations. A combined evaluation of the kinematics and
colour-magnitude properties suggests that the previously undiscovered streams
are fragments of the Gaia-Enceladus progenitor. The success of this project
demonstrates the usefulness of data mining techniques in exploring large
datasets.
Streams of stars from captured dwarf galaxies and dissolved globular clusters
are identifiable through the similarity of their orbital parameters, a fact
that remains true long after the streams have dispersed spatially. We calculate
the integrals of motion for 44855 stars, to a distance of 4 kpc from the Sun,
which have full and accurate 6D phase space positions in the Gaia DR2
catalogue. We then apply a novel combination of data mining, numerical and
statistical techniques to search for stellar streams. This process returns
seven high-confidence streams (including four that were not previously known),
all of which display tight clustering in the integral of motion space.
Colour-magnitude diagrams indicate that these streams are relatively simple,
old, metal-poor populations. A combined evaluation of the kinematics and
colour-magnitude properties suggests that the previously undiscovered streams
are fragments of the Gaia-Enceladus progenitor. The success of this project
demonstrates the usefulness of data mining techniques in exploring large
datasets.
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