Table · dataset · 2026
NGVS. XXXVII. RR Lyrae stars out to 300kpc
Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)
RR Lyrae stars are standard candles with characteristic photometric variability and serve as powerful tracers of Galactic structure, substructure, accretion history, and dark matter content.
Description
Here we report the discovery of distant RR Lyrae stars, including some of the most distant stars known in the Milky Way halo, with Galactocentric distances of ~300kpc. We use time-series u*g'i'z' Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam photometry from the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS).
We use a template light-curve fitting method based on empirical Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 RR Lyrae data to identify RR Lyrae candidates in the NGVS data set. We eliminate several hundred suspected quasars and identify 180 RR Lyrae candidates with heliocentric distances of ~20-300kpc. The halo stellar density distribution is consistent with an r^-4.09{\pm}0.10^ power-law radial profile over most of this distance range with no signs of a break.
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The distribution of ab-type RR Lyrae in a period-amplitude plot (Bailey diagram) suggests that the mean metallicity of the halo decreases outward. Compared to other recent RR Lyrae surveys, like Pan-STARRS1, the High Cadence Transient Survey, and the Dark Energy Survey, our NGVS study has better single-epoch photometric precision and a comparable number of epochs but smaller sky coverage. At large distances, our RR Lyrae sample appears to be relatively pure and complete, with well-measured periods and amplitudes.
These newly discovered distant RR Lyrae stars are important additions to the few secure stellar tracers beyond 150 kpc in the Milky Way halo.
Links
Where it is published
- Reference page cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/966/159 ↗
landing page · from IVOA Registry
Documentation and papers
- ADS 2024ApJ...966..159F ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ...966..159F ↗
publication · from IVOA Registry
Catalogue records · 2
- VOResource record dc.g-vo.org/oai.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=ivo_vor&identifier=ivo%3… ↗
metadata API · from IVOA Registry
- Registry record (GAVO) dc.g-vo.org/I/cds.vizier/j/apj/966/159 ↗
catalogue entry · from IVOA Registry
Topics
- From keywords
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
Provenance · 1 source records, 9 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory) | ivo://cds.vizier/j/apj/966/159 | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:astronomy | mapping · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:infrared | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:optical | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_description |
| license_text | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_title |
| updated_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 |