Related papers: Spiral structure of the Third Galactic Quadrant an…
We present an analysis of the asymmetries in the population of Galactic M-giant stars present in the 2MASS All Sky catalogue. Several large-scale asymmetries are detected, the most significant of which is a strong elliptical-shaped stellar…
An AAT/2dF Spectrograph Survey of low Galactic latitudes targeting the putative Canis Major dwarf galaxy, and the (possibly) associated tidal debris of stars known as the Monoceros Ring, covering Galactic coordinates 231.5$^{\circ}< ${\it…
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has recently discovered a coherent ring of stars at low galactic latitude that is believed to be the tidal stream of a merging dwarf galaxy in the Galactic plane (named the Monoceros tidal stream). The existence…
This paper concludes a systematic search for evidence of the Monoceros Ring and Canis Major dwarf galaxy around the Galactic Plane. Presented here are the results for the Galactic longitude range of l = (280 - 025)deg. Testing the claim…
We present a first deep colour-magnitude diagram of the putative central region (0.5 deg x 0.5 deg) of the Canis Major stellar over-density (l,b)=(240,-8) found by Martin et al. (2004), which has been proposed as the remnant of a dwarf…
Recent observational evidence suggests that the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy represents the only major ongoing accretion event in the Galactic halo, accounting for the majority of stellar debris identified there. This paper summarizes the…
We present the results of an AAT wide-field camera survey of the stars in the Monoceros Ring and purported Canis Major overdensity in the Galactic longitudes of {\it l} = (193 - 276)$^\circ$. Current numerical simulations suggest that both…
Proper-motion, star counts and photometric catalog simulations are used to explain the detected stellar over-density in the region of Canis Major (CMa), claimed to be the core of a disrupted dwarf galaxy (Martin et al. 2004, Bellazzini et…
Prompted by the discovery of the accreted Canis Major dwarf galaxy and its associated globular cluster (GC) system (Martin etal.), we investigate the contribution of accreted GCs to the Galactic system. The Canis Major GCs, and those…
We perform a critical re-analysis and discussion of recent results presented in the literature which interpret the CMa overdensity as the signature of an accreting dwarf galaxy or a new substructure within the Galaxy. Several issues are…
The Monoceros ring is a collection of stars in nearly-circular orbits at roughly 18 kpc from the Galactic center. It may have originated (i) as the response of the disc to perturbations excited by satellite companions or (ii) from the tidal…
Numerical simulations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies undergoing several close encounters with the Milky Way are described. By comparing our models to observed properties of the recently discovered dwarf galaxy in Sagittarius (Sgr), we discuss…
We present the results of a wide-field camera survey of the stars in the Monoceros Ring, thought to be an additional structure in the Milky Way of unknown origin. Lying roughly in the plane of the Milky Way, this may represent a unique…
Recent analyses of the stellar stream of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy have claimed that the kinematics and three-dimensional location of the M-giant stars in this structure constrain the dark matter halo of our Galaxy to possess a triaxial…
(Abridged) We derive the structure of the Galactic stellar Warp and Flare using 2MASS RC and RGB stars, selected at mean heliocentric distances of 3, 7 and 17 kpc. Our results are: (i) a clear stellar warp signature is derived for the 3…
The discovery of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, which is being tidally disrupted by and merging with the Milky Way, supports the view that the halo of the Galaxy has been built up at least partially by the accretion of similar dwarf systems.…
Like many galaxies of its size, the Milky Way is a disk with prominent spiral arms rooted in a central bar, although our knowledge of its structure and origin is incomplete. Traditional attempts to understand the Galaxy's morphology assume…
The recently discovered, ring-like structure just outside the Galactic disk in Monoceros is detected and traced among 2MASS M giant stars. We have developed a method to recover the signature of this structure from the distance probability…
Standard cosmology predicts that dwarfs were the first galaxies to be formed in the Universe and that many of them merge afterwards to form bigger galaxies such as the Milky Way. This process would have left behind traces such as tidal…
We identify new structures in the halo of the Milky Way Galaxy from positions, colors and magnitudes of five million stars detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Most of these stars are within 1.26 degrees of the celestial equator. We…