Distant, pulsating red giants in southern halo

This may be due to the scarcity of AGBs in the outer halo, or insufficient instrumental depth. Leaving aside spectral information, we then searched for even fainter pulsators (Ks>12.5) in the entire CSS catalogue. Gaia astrometry makes it possible to identify some contaminants.

Our final result is the identification of ten candidate distant LPVs. If these ten stars obey the fundamental mode K-band period luminosity relation used for Miras and small-amplitude Miras, their distances are between 50 and 120kpc from the Sun. In a diagram showing distance versus Gaia tangential velocity, these ten stars have positions similar to those of other objects in the halo, such as globular clusters and dwarf galaxies.

We also detect some underluminous AGBs that deserve further study. A detailed catalogue of the 77 high-latitude M or C stars will be made available at the CDS.