Stars in the Carina dSph galaxy field

That debate often centers on the nature (bound vs. unbound) of extended populations of stars claimed to lie outside the bounds of single King profiles fitted to the density distributions of dSph centers. However, the more fundamental issue of the very existence of the previously reported extended populations is still contentious.

We present a critical evaluation of the debate centering on one particular dSph, Carina, for which claims both for and against the existence of stars beyond the King limiting radius have been made.