English

Constraining the Galactic bar and spiral pattern speeds with the Hyades tidal stream

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2026-04-01 v1

Abstract

We present a suite of direct NN-body simulations of the Hyades open cluster and its tidal stream in a Milky Way potential that includes a rotating bar and spiral arms. Using the high-resolution code PETAR and an AGAMA-based multi-component Galactic model, we vary the bar and spiral pattern speeds (Ωb\Omega_b, Ωs\Omega_s) on a discrete grid and quantify the resulting changes in stream orientation, length, and internal density structure. We compare the simulations to Gaia EDR3 using the convergent point (CP) and compact convergent point (CCP) methods, followed by an adaptive three-dimensional nearest-neighbor matching in Cartesian space (x,y,z)(x,y,z). The Gaia candidate members exhibit a pronounced longitudinal density peak at Yrot0.1kpcY_{\mathrm{rot}} \approx 0.1\,\mathrm{kpc} in a stream-aligned coordinate system. Models with Ωs=22.5kms1kpc1\Omega_s = 22.5\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}\,kpc^{-1}} and Ωb40\Omega_b \simeq 40--45kms1kpc145\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}\,kpc^{-1}} best reproduce this feature, while faster-bar models fail to match the observed density structure. These models are consistent with recent constraints favoring a relatively slow Galactic bar, and they illustrate how nearby open-cluster streams can provide an independent, local constraint on non-axisymmetric Galactic dynamics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.29360,
  title  = {Constraining the Galactic bar and spiral pattern speeds with the Hyades tidal stream},
  author = {Zi-yi Zhou and Long Wang and Tereza Jerabkova and Zhenghao He},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.29360},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in APJ