A Solar Neighborhood Search for Tidal Debris from Omega Centauri's Hypothetical Parent Galaxy
Abstract
Description
Recent stellar populations and chemical abundance studies point to an accreted origin of omega Cen. In this light, and given the retrograde, small size orbit of omega Cen, we search for a kinematical signature left by bits hypothetical parent galaxy in the Solar neighborhood. We analyze the largets-to-date sample of metal poor stars (Beers et al. 2000) and we find that, in the metallicity range -2.0 < [Fe/H] <= -1.5, a retrograde signature that departs from the characteristics of the inner halo, and that resembles omega Cen's orbit, can be identified.
16 pages, 7 eps figures,newpasp style, to be published in "Omega Centauri: A Unique Window into Astrophysics (Cambridge, Aug. 2001) ASP Conf. Seried edited by F van Leeuwen, G. Piotto and J. Hughes
16 pages, 7 eps figures,newpasp style, to be published in "Omega Centauri: A Unique Window into Astrophysics (Cambridge, Aug. 2001) ASP Conf. Seried edited by F van Leeuwen, G. Piotto and J. Hughes