This is a list of stellar streams. A stellar stream is an association of stars orbiting a galaxy. It was once a globular cluster or dwarf galaxy that has now been torn apart and stretched out along its orbit by tidal forces. [1] An exception in the list about Milky Way streams given below is the Magellanic Stream, composed of gas (mostly hydrogen), although in 2023 a population of stars has been described inside it. [2]
Name | Origin | Mass (solar masses) | Length (light-years) | Composition | Discovery year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arcturus stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | Unknown | Unknown | Old stars deficient in heavy elements | 1971 [5] |
Magellanic Stream | Large and Small Magellanic Clouds | 200 million | 1 million | Hydrogen gas | 1972 |
Sagittarius Stream | Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy | 100 million | 1 million | Wide variety of stars | 1994 |
Helmi stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | 10—100 million | Several complete loops around the Milky Way | Old stars deficient in heavy elements | 1999 |
Palomar 5 stream | Globular cluster Palomar 5 | 5,000 | 30,000 | Old stars | 2001 |
Virgo stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | 30,000 | 2001 | ||
Monoceros ring | Canis Major Overdensity | 100 million | 200,000 | Intermediate age stars | 2002 |
Anticenter stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | Unknown | 30,000 | Old stars | 2006 |
GD-1 | Globular cluster | Metal-poor stars | 2006 [6] | ||
NGC 5466 stream 45 Degree tidal stream | Globular cluster NGC 5466 | 10,000 | 60,000 | Very old stars | 2006 [7] [8] |
Orphan stream | Unknown source (hence its name) | Unknown [9] | 20,000 | Old stars | 2006 |
Acheron stream | Globular cluster | 2007 [7] [10] | |||
Boötes III stream | Embedded in, and possible progenitor of the Styx stream | 2007 [7] [10] | |||
Cocytus stream | Globular cluster | 2007 [7] [10] | |||
Lethe stream | Globular cluster | 2007 [10] | |||
Styx stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy (possibly Boötes III) | 2007 [7] [10] | |||
Cetus Polar Stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | Unknown | Unknown | Old stars | 2009 [11] |
Aquarius Stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | Unknown | 30,000 | Old stars | 2010 |
Lamost 1 | Disrupted globular cluster | 21,000 | Intermediate-age stars | 2015 [12] | |
Phoenix Stream | Disrupted globular cluster | Unknown | 8,000 | Very old stars [13] [14] | 2016 [15] |
S1 Stream | disrupted dwarf galaxy | 94 | 2017 [16] [17] | ||
Fimbulthul stream | Globular cluster Omega Centauri | 318 | 2019 [18] | ||
Pisces-Eridanus stream | disrupted cluster or association | 2,000 | 1,300 | very young (~120 Myr) nearby (260 - 870 light-years) stream [19] | 2019 [20] |
Nyx stream | remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy — long-ago galaxy merger | about 200 stars | 2020 [21] [22] | ||
Specter | disrupted ultra-faint dwarf galaxy | 2,000 | 18,000 | 2022 [23] |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(June 2024) |
Name | Origin | Mass (solar masses) | Length (light-years) | Composition | Discovery year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
M31 Giant stellar stream[ citation needed ] | |||||
Andromeda NE stellar stream [24] | 2004 | ||||
Tidal Stream Northwest (Tidal Stream E and F) [25] | 2009 | ||||
Tidal Stream Southwest [25] | 2009 | ||||
East Cloud[ citation needed ] | |||||
North Spur[ citation needed ] | |||||
Stream A[ citation needed ] | |||||
Stream B[ citation needed ] | |||||
Stream C[ citation needed ] | |||||
Stream D[ citation needed ] | |||||
Due to new deeper sky surveys, such as the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey, a large number of streams are to be expected to be discovered in the future. An initial search in 2023 by Martínez-Delgado et al. searched 389 galaxies and found 89 candidates with stellar streams (22,9%). They plan to search about 3100 galaxies, which might yield hundreds of candidates. In the pasts less sensitive surveys such as SDSS were only able to detect the brightest stellar streams. [26]
Name | Location | Origin | Mass (solar masses) | Length (light-years) | Composition | Characteristics | Discovery year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Young Blue Tidal Stream [27] | NGC 5128 | A gas fragment or a dwarf galaxy | 2002 | ||||
NGC 4013 [28] | former dwarf satellite with low inclination orbit | large looping structure | 2008 | ||||
NGC 5907 [29] | low-mass satellite accretion | multiple surrounding loops | 2009 | ||||
NGC 4651 [30] | satellite accretion | narrow jet-like structure and surrounding debris shell | 2010 | ||||
NGC 3521 [30] | satellite accretion | jet-like structure and surrounding debris shell | 2010 | ||||
NGC 7531 [30] | satellite accretion | surrounding debris shell | 2010 | ||||
NGC 1084 [30] | satellite accretion | three giant disconnected plumes of similar width | 2010 | ||||
NGC 4216 [30] | satellite accretion | ongoing tidal disruption of satellite galaxies seen as long tails extending from the progenitor satellite | 2010 | ||||
NGC 1055 [30] | satellite accretion | clear box shaped inner halo sprinkled with a plethora of coherent spikes | 2010 | ||||
NGC 5291 [31] | galaxy interaction | two separate tidal tails to the north and south | ? | ||||
petal of the sunflower | Messier 63 (NGC 5055) [32] | dwarf satellite accretion | 4x108 | 1979/2011 | |||
NGC 5387 [33] | satellite accretion | 6x108 | 11.7 kpc | young stars | enhanced star formation, metal-poor | 2014 | |
feather on the hat | Messier 104 (NGC 4594) [34] | major merger | extremely metal rich | 2021 | |||
The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way, where Earth is located. It has a total diameter of roughly 3 megaparsecs (10 million light-years; 9×1019 kilometres), and a total mass of the order of 2×1012 solar masses (4×1042 kg). It consists of two collections of galaxies in a "dumbbell" shape; the Milky Way and its satellites form one lobe, and the Andromeda Galaxy and its satellites constitute the other. The two collections are separated by about 800 kiloparsecs (3×10 6 ly; 2×1019 km) and are moving toward one another with a velocity of 123 km/s. The group itself is a part of the larger Virgo Supercluster, which may be a part of the Laniakea Supercluster. The exact number of galaxies in the Local Group is unknown as some are occluded by the Milky Way; however, at least 80 members are known, most of which are dwarf galaxies.
Messier 2 or M2 is a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius, five degrees north of the star Beta Aquarii. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746, and is one of the largest known globular clusters.
Messier 53 is a globular cluster in the Coma Berenices constellation. It was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1775. M53 is one of the more outlying globular clusters, being about 60,000 light-years (18.4 kpc) light-years away from the Galactic Center, and almost the same distance from the Solar System. The cluster has a core radius (rc) of 2.18 pc, a half-light radius (rh) of 5.84 pc, and a tidal radius (rtr) of 239.9 pc.
A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of about 1000 up to several billion stars, as compared to the Milky Way's 200–400 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud, which closely orbits the Milky Way and contains over 30 billion stars, is sometimes classified as a dwarf galaxy; others consider it a full-fledged galaxy. Dwarf galaxies' formation and activity are thought to be heavily influenced by interactions with larger galaxies. Astronomers identify numerous types of dwarf galaxies, based on their shape and composition.
The Milky Way has several smaller galaxies gravitationally bound to it, as part of the Milky Way subgroup, which is part of the local galaxy cluster, the Local Group.
NGC 4013 is an edge-on barred spiral galaxy about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The disk of NGC 4013 shows a distinct "peanut"-shaped bulge in long exposure photographs that N-body computer simulations suggest is consistent with a stellar bar seen perpendicular to the line of sight.
NGC 1427 is a low-luminosity elliptical galaxy located approximately 71 million light-years away from Earth. It was discovered by John Frederick William Herschel on November 28, 1837. It is a member of the Fornax Cluster. The galaxy has a stellar mass of 7.9 × 1010M☉, and a total mass of 9.4 × 1010M☉. However, the mass of the dark matter halo surrounding the galaxy is around 4.3 × 1012M☉.
NGC 4449, also known as Caldwell 21, is an irregular Magellanic type galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, being located about 13 million light-years away. It is part of the M94 Group or Canes Venatici I Group that is relatively close to the Local Group hosting our Milky Way galaxy.
NGC 2808 is a globular cluster in the constellation Carina. The cluster currently belongs to the Milky Way, although it was likely stolen from a dwarf galaxy that collided with the Milky Way. NGC 2808 is one of our home galaxy's most massive clusters, containing more than a million stars. It is estimated to be 12.5-billion years old.
Robert Jay GaBany is an American amateur astronomer and astrophotographer who is also known for his work with an international team of astrophysicists led by Dr. David Martínez-Delgado. GaBany helped pioneer the use of modest size telescopes and off the shelf CCD-cameras to produce long exposure images that revealed ancient galactic merger remnants in the form of star streams surrounding nearby galaxies that were previously undetected or suspected.
In astronomy, the Sagittarius Stream is a long, complex structure made of stars that wrap around the Milky Way galaxy in an orbit that nearly crosses the galactic poles. It consists of tidally stripped stars from the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, resulting from the process of merging with the Milky Way over a period of billions of years.
NGC 922 is a peculiar galaxy in the southern constellation of Fornax, located at a distance of 142 Mly from the Milky Way. It is one of the nearest known collisional galaxies. This object was described by the Herschels as "considerably faint, pretty large, round, gradually pretty much brighter middle." The general form is described by the morphological classification of SB(s)cd pec, which indicates a peculiar (pec) barred spiral galaxy (SB) with no inner ring system around the bar (s) and loosely-wound spiral arms (cd).
NGC 4660 is an elliptical galaxy located about 63 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.
NGC 1395 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Eridanus. It is located at a distance of circa 75 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 1395 is about 130,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 17, 1784. It is a member of the Eridanus Cluster.
NGC 7492 is a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius. It was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel on September 20, 1786. It resides in the outskirts of the Milky Way, about 80,000 light-years away, more than twice the distance between the Sun and the center of the galaxy, and is a benchmark member of the outer galactic halo. The cluster is immersed in, but does not kinematically belong to, the Sagittarius Stream.
The Palomar globular clusters are some of the faintest of all globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy, and been discovered in the 1950s on the survey plates of the first Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS). In total there are 15 Palomar globular clusters, which include Palomar 1, Palomar 2, Palomar 3, Palomar 4, Palomar 5, Palomar 6, Palomar 7, Palomar 8, Palomar 9, Palomar 10, Palomar 11, Palomar 12, Palomar 13, Palomar 14, and Palomar 15. Some Palomar Globulars, like Palomar 6, Palomar 7, Palomar 9, Palomar 10 and Palomar 11 are clusters of average size located nearby, yet obscured in our line of sight by dust. Other Palomar globulars, like Palomar 3, Palomar 4 and Palomar 14 are giants located in the far outer halo of the Milky Way. Some even originated from a different galaxy, such as Palomar 12 from the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy, which is now known as a satellite of the Milky Way. Observation of different Palomar globulars greatly varies in the degree of difficulty depending on the cluster. Some are small and compact, others are very sparse, to the point where they may be hard to distinguish from foreground stars.