Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar
The Ophiuchus stellar stream presents a puzzle due to its complicated morphology, with a substructure perpendicular to the main track (spur), a broadened tail (fanning), and a shorter than expected angular extent given its old stellar population and short orbital period. The location of the stream a...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc57c |
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| author | Yong Yang Geraint F. Lewis Denis Erkal Ting S. Li Andrew P. Li Sarah L. Martell Lara R. Cullinane Guilherme Limberg Daniel B. Zucker Joss Bland-Hawthorn Andrew B. Pace Gary S. Da Costa Alexander P. Ji Sergey E. Koposov Kyler Kuehn Nora Shipp Miles Pearson Sam A. Usman S5 Collaboration |
| author_facet | Yong Yang Geraint F. Lewis Denis Erkal Ting S. Li Andrew P. Li Sarah L. Martell Lara R. Cullinane Guilherme Limberg Daniel B. Zucker Joss Bland-Hawthorn Andrew B. Pace Gary S. Da Costa Alexander P. Ji Sergey E. Koposov Kyler Kuehn Nora Shipp Miles Pearson Sam A. Usman S5 Collaboration |
| author_sort | Yong Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Ophiuchus stellar stream presents a puzzle due to its complicated morphology, with a substructure perpendicular to the main track (spur), a broadened tail (fanning), and a shorter than expected angular extent given its old stellar population and short orbital period. The location of the stream approaches the Galactic center, implying a possible connection between its orbit and its unusual morphology. Here we demonstrate that the morphology of Ophiuchus can be attributed to its interaction with the decelerating Galactic bar, which leads to the flipping or transposition of its tidal tails. The short length of the stream is the result of stars stripped in the ancient past still remaining concentrated, and the spur, as well as the fanning, are composed of either leading or trailing tails built up of stars released at different time intervals. Our new spectroscopic data, obtained as part of the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey, and modeling of Ophiuchus indicate that, in the presence of the bar, an initial leading tail can be redistributed to the trailing side and vice versa, and the morphology of a stream can be reshaped. This result confirms that the Galactic bar plays a vital role in reconstructing the orbital behavior of streams passing close to the central region of the Milky Way. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d8aefe422eed4db88656defe0858e346 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-d8aefe422eed4db88656defe0858e3462025-08-20T02:16:10ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01984218910.3847/1538-4357/adc57cFlipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic BarYong Yang0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7609-1947Geraint F. Lewis1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3081-9319Denis Erkal2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8448-5505Ting S. Li3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9110-6163Andrew P. Li4https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5355-5899Sarah L. Martell5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3430-4163Lara R. Cullinane6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8536-0547Guilherme Limberg7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9269-8287Daniel B. Zucker8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1124-8477Joss Bland-Hawthorn9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7516-4016Andrew B. Pace10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6021-8760Gary S. Da Costa11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7019-649XAlexander P. Ji12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4863-8842Sergey E. Koposov13https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2644-135XKyler Kuehn14https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0120-0808Nora Shipp15https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2497-091XMiles Pearson16https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7075-3235Sam A. Usman17https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0918-7185S5 CollaborationSydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ; yong.yang@sydney.edu.auSydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ; yong.yang@sydney.edu.auSchool of Mathematics and Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford GU2 7XH, UKDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St George Street, Toronto ON, M5S 3H4, Canada; Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada; Data Sciences Institute, University of Toronto , 17th Floor, Ontario Power Building, 700 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 1Z5, CanadaDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St George Street, Toronto ON, M5S 3H4, CanadaSchool of Physics, University of New South Wales , Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Canberra, AustraliaLeibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) , An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, GermanyKavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USACentre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Canberra, Australia; School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University , Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; Macquarie University Research Centre for Astrophysics and Space Technologies , Sydney, NSW 2109, AustraliaSydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, A28, The University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ; yong.yang@sydney.edu.au; Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Canberra, AustraliaDepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USACentre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Canberra, Australia; Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT 2611, AustraliaKavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USAInstitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UKLowell Observatory , 1400 W Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Washington , Seattle, WA 98195, USASchool of Physics, University of New South Wales , Sydney, NSW 2052, AustraliaKavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USAThe Ophiuchus stellar stream presents a puzzle due to its complicated morphology, with a substructure perpendicular to the main track (spur), a broadened tail (fanning), and a shorter than expected angular extent given its old stellar population and short orbital period. The location of the stream approaches the Galactic center, implying a possible connection between its orbit and its unusual morphology. Here we demonstrate that the morphology of Ophiuchus can be attributed to its interaction with the decelerating Galactic bar, which leads to the flipping or transposition of its tidal tails. The short length of the stream is the result of stars stripped in the ancient past still remaining concentrated, and the spur, as well as the fanning, are composed of either leading or trailing tails built up of stars released at different time intervals. Our new spectroscopic data, obtained as part of the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey, and modeling of Ophiuchus indicate that, in the presence of the bar, an initial leading tail can be redistributed to the trailing side and vice versa, and the morphology of a stream can be reshaped. This result confirms that the Galactic bar plays a vital role in reconstructing the orbital behavior of streams passing close to the central region of the Milky Way.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc57cStellar streamsGlobular star clustersGalactic barMilky Way GalaxyStellar dynamicsMilky Way dynamics |
| spellingShingle | Yong Yang Geraint F. Lewis Denis Erkal Ting S. Li Andrew P. Li Sarah L. Martell Lara R. Cullinane Guilherme Limberg Daniel B. Zucker Joss Bland-Hawthorn Andrew B. Pace Gary S. Da Costa Alexander P. Ji Sergey E. Koposov Kyler Kuehn Nora Shipp Miles Pearson Sam A. Usman S5 Collaboration Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar The Astrophysical Journal Stellar streams Globular star clusters Galactic bar Milky Way Galaxy Stellar dynamics Milky Way dynamics |
| title | Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar |
| title_full | Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar |
| title_fullStr | Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar |
| title_short | Flipping of the Tidal Tails of the Ophiuchus Stream due to the Decelerating Galactic Bar |
| title_sort | flipping of the tidal tails of the ophiuchus stream due to the decelerating galactic bar |
| topic | Stellar streams Globular star clusters Galactic bar Milky Way Galaxy Stellar dynamics Milky Way dynamics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc57c |
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