Bibcode
DOI
Martínez-Delgado, D.; Zinn, R.; Carrera, R.; Gallart, C.
Referencia bibliográfica
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 573, Issue 1, pp. L19-L22.
Fecha de publicación:
7
2002
Revista
Número de citas
53
Número de citas referidas
49
Descripción
Photometry of a large field around the young globular cluster Palomar 12
has revealed the main sequence of a low surface brightness stellar
system. This main sequence is indicative of a stellar population that
varies significantly in metallicity and/or age but in the mean is more
metal-poor than Pal 12. Under different assumptions for the properties
of this population, we find distances from the Sun in the range 17-24
kpc, which encompasses the distance to Pal 12, 19.0+/-0.9 kpc. The
stellar system is also detected in a field 2° north of Pal 12, which
indicates it has a minimum diameter of ~0.9 kpc. The orbit of Pal 12,
the color-magnitude diagram of the stellar system, their positions on
the sky, and their distances suggest that they are debris from the tidal
disruption of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We discuss
briefly the implications for the evolution of Sgr and the Galactic halo.