List of stellar streams

Stellar streams in the Milky Way, discovered in 2007

This is a list of stellar streams. A stellar stream is an association of stars orbiting a galaxy that was once a globular cluster or dwarf galaxy that has now been torn apart and stretched out along its orbit by tidal forces. A notable exception in the list about Milky Way streams given below is the Magellanic Stream, composed of gas (mostly hydrogen).

## Contents

* 1 Local Group streams
* 1.1 Milky Way streams
* 1.2 Andromeda Galaxy streams
* 2 Streams beyond the Local Group
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Local Group streams

### Milky Way streams

Recent stellar streams on the Milky Way studied by the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S⁵ collaboration) using the Anglo-Australian Telescope (2022)[1][2]

Known streams in the Milky Way[3] 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[3]
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[4]
NGC 5466 stream
45 Degree tidal stream  | Globular cluster NGC 5466 | 10,000  | 60,000  | Very old stars  | 2006[5][6]
Orphan stream  | Unknown source (hence its name)  | Unknown[7] | 20,000  | Old stars  | 2006
Acheron stream  | Globular cluster |  |  |  | 2007[5][8]
Boötes III stream  | Embedded in, and possible progenitor of the Styx stream  |  |  |  | 2007[5][8]
Cocytus stream  | Globular cluster |  |  |  | 2007[5][8]
Lethe stream  | Globular cluster |  |  |  | 2007[8]
Styx stream  | Defunct dwarf galaxy (possibly Boötes III)  |  |  |  | 2007[5][8]
Cetus Polar Stream  | Defunct dwarf galaxy | Unknown  | Unknown  | Old stars  | 2009[9]
Aquarius Stream | Defunct dwarf galaxy | Unknown  | 30,000  | Old stars  | 2010
Lamost 1  | Disrupted globular cluster | 21,000  |  | Intermediate-age stars  | 2015[10]
Phoenix Stream  | Disrupted globular cluster | Unknown  | 8,000  | Very old stars[11][12] | 2016[13]
Fimbulthul stream | Globular cluster Omega Centauri | 318  |  |  | 2019[14]
Pisces-Eridanus stream | disrupted cluster or association | 2,000  | 1,300  | very young (~120 Myr) nearby (260 - 870 light-years) stream[15] | 2019 [16]
Nyx stream | remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy — long-ago galaxy merger  |  |  | about 200 stars  | 2020[17][18]

### Andromeda Galaxy streams

Known streams in the Andromeda Galaxy Name  | Origin  | Mass
(solar masses)  | Length
(light-years)  | Composition  | Discovery year

|
|
|
|
|

M31 Giant stellar stream  |  |  |  |  |
Andromeda NE stellar stream[19] |  |  |  |  | 2004
Tidal Stream Northwest (Tidal Stream E and F)[20] |  |  |  |  | 2009
Tidal Stream Southwest[20] |  |  |  |  | 2009
East Cloud  |  |  |  |  |
North Spur  |  |  |  |  |
Stream A  |  |  |  |  |
Stream B  |  |  |  |  |
Stream C  |  |  |  |  |
Stream D  |  |  |  |  |

## Streams beyond the Local Group

Other known streams outside the Local Group Name  | Location  | Origin  | Mass
(solar masses)  | Length
(light-years)  | Composition  | Characteristics  | Discovery year

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Young Blue Tidal Stream[21] | NGC 5128 | A gas fragment or
a dwarf galaxy  |  |  |  |  | 2002
| NGC 4013[22] | former dwarf satellite
with low inclination orbit  |  |  |  | large looping structure  | 2008
| NGC 5907[23] | low-mass satellite accretion  |  |  |  | multiple surrounding loops  | 2009
| NGC 4651[24] | satellite accretion  |  |  |  | narrow jet-like structure and surrounding debris shell  | 2010
| NGC 3521[24] | satellite accretion  |  |  |  | jet-like structure and surrounding debris shell  | 2010
| NGC 7531[24] | satellite accretion  |  |  |  | surrounding debris shell  | 2010
| NGC 1084[24] | satellite accretion  |  |  |  | three giant disconnected plumes of similar width  | 2010
| NGC 4216[24] | satellite accretion  |  |  |  | ongoing tidal disruption of satellite galaxies
seen as long tails extending from the progenitor satellite  | 2010
| NGC 1055[24] | satellite accretion  |  |  |  | clear box shaped inner halo sprinkled with a plethora of coherent spikes  | 2010
| NGC 5291[25] | galaxy interaction  |  |  |  | two separate tidal tails to the north and south  | ?

## See also

* Lists of astronomical objects
* List of nearby stellar associations and moving groups
* Field of Streams
* Stellar kinematics
* Galaxy merger
* Local Bubble

## References

1. ↑ Li, Ting S.; Ji, Alexander P.; Pace, Andrew B.; Erkal, Denis; Koposov, Sergey E.; Shipp, Nora; Da Costa, Gary S.; Cullinane, Lara R.; Kuehn, Kyler; Lewis, Geraint F.; Mackey, Dougal (2022-01-02). "$S^5$: The Orbital and Chemical Properties of One Dozen Stellar Streams". arXiv:2110.06950 [astro-ph.GA].
2. ↑ "Twelve for dinner: The Milky Way's feeding habits shine a light on dark matter" (in en-US). https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/dozen_stellar_stream/.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ibata, Rodrigo; Gibson, Brad (April 2007). "The Ghosts of Galaxies Past". Scientific American 296 (4): 40–45. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0407-40. PMID 17479629. Bibcode: 2007SciAm.296d..40I.
4. ↑ Grillmair, C.J.; Dionatos, O. (2 May 2006). "Detection of a 63° cold stellar stream in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey". The Astrophysical Journal 643 (1): L17–L20. doi:10.1086/505111. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2006ApJ...643L..17G.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Rings around the galaxy". 1 June 2007. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2007/06/rings-around-the-galaxy.
6. ↑ Grillmair, C. J.; Johnson, R. (8 February 2006). "The Detection of a 45° Tidal Stream Associated with the Globular Cluster NGC 5466". The Astrophysical Journal 639 (1): L17–L20. doi:10.1086/501439. Bibcode: 2006ApJ...639L..17G.
7. ↑ Newberg, Heidi Jo; Willett, Benjamin A.; Yanny, Brian; Xu, Yan (5 February 2010). "The Orbit of the Orphan Stream". The Astrophysical Journal 711 (1): 32–49. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/711/1/32. Bibcode: 2010ApJ...711...32N.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Grillmair, C.J. (5 March 2009). "Four new stellar debris streams in the galactic halo". The Astrophysical Journal 693 (2): 1118–1127. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/693/2/1118. Bibcode: 2009ApJ...693.1118G.
9. ↑ Newberg, Heidi Jo; Yanny, Brian; Willett, Benjamin A. (10 July 2009). "Discovery of a new, polar-orbiting debris stream in the Milky Way stellar halo". The Astrophysical Journal 700 (2): L61–L64. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/700/2/L61. Bibcode: 2009ApJ...700L..61N.
10. ↑ Vickers, John J.; Smith, Martin C.; Hou, Yonghui; Wang, Yuefei; Zhang, Yong (23 December 2015). "LAMOST 1: A disrupted satellite in the constellation Draco". The Astrophysical Journal 816 (1): L2 (5 pp). doi:10.3847/2041-8205/816/1/L2. Bibcode: 2016ApJ...816L...2V.
11. ↑ Wan, Zhen et al. (29 July 2020). "The tidal remnant of an unusually metal-poor globular cluster". Nature 583 (7818): 768–770. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2483-6. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32728241. Bibcode: 2020Natur.583..768W.
12. ↑ Wan, J. M. Diederiky (29 July 2020). "Observations of a star system called the Phoenix stellar stream offer the first evidence of vanished star clusters that had extremely low levels of heavy elements. Their remnants might cast light on the early assembly of the Milky Way.". Nature 583 (7818): 768–770. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2483-6. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32728241.
13. ↑ Balbinot, E.; Yanny, B.; Li, T.S.; Santiago, B.; Marshall, J.L.; Finley, D.A. et al. (March 2016). "The Phoenix Stream: A cold stream in the southern hemisphere" (in en). Astrophysical Journal 820 (1): 58. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/58. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2016ApJ...820...58B.
14. ↑ Malhan, Khyati (23 April 2019). "Ghostly tributaries to our galaxy: Catastrophic tale of the most massive globular cluster of the Milky Way". https://astronomycommunity.nature.com/users/253571-khyati-malhan/posts/47356-ghostly-tributaries-to-our-galaxy-catastrophic-tale-of-the-most-massive-globular-cluster-of-the-milky-way.
15. ↑ Curtis, Jason L.; Agüeros, Marcel A.; Mamajek, Eric E.; Wright, Jason T.; Cummings, Jeffrey D. (August 2019). "TESS reveals that the nearby Pisces-Eridanus stellar stream is only 120 Myr old" (in en). The Astrophysical Journal 158 (2): 77. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab2899. ISSN 0004-6256. Bibcode: 2019AJ....158...77C.
16. ↑ Meingast, Stefan; Alves, João; Fürnkranz, Verena (February 2019). "Extended stellar systems in the solar neighborhood. II. Discovery of a nearby 120° stellar stream in Gaia DR2" (in en). Astronomy & Astrophysics 622: L13. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834950. ISSN 0004-6361. Bibcode: 2019A&A...622L..13M.
17. ↑ "Nyx: Stellar stream of stars discovered in Milky Way that originated in another galaxy". 8 July 2020. https://scitechdaily.com/nyx-stellar-stream-of-stars-discovered-in-milky-way-that-originated-in-another-galaxy/.
18. ↑ Necib, L. et al. (6 July 2020). "Evidence for a vast prograde stellar stream in the solar vicinity.". Nature Astronomy 4 (11): 1078–1083. doi:10.1038/s41550-020-1131-2. Bibcode: 2020NatAs...4.1078N.
19. ↑ Zucker, Daniel B.; Kniazev, Alexei Y.; Bell, Eric F.; Martinez-Delgado, David; Grebel, Eva K.; Rix, Hans-Walter et al. (10 August 2004). "A New Giant Stellar Structure in the Outer Halo of M31". The Astrophysical Journal 612 (2): L117–L120. doi:10.1086/424706. Bibcode: 2004ApJ...612L.117Z.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "New tidal streams found in Andromeda reveal history of galactic mergers". http://www.ucolick.org/~raja/aas_prs_rls_010610/.
21. ↑ Peng, Eric W.; Ford, Holland C.; Freeman, Kenneth C.; White, Richard L. (December 2002). "A Young Blue Tidal Stream in NGC 5128". The Astronomical Journal 124 (6): 3144–3156. doi:10.1086/344308. Bibcode: 2002AJ....124.3144P.
22. ↑ Martinez-Delgado, David; Pohlen, Michael; Gabany, R. Jay; Majewski, Steven R.; Penarrubia, Jorge; Palma, Chris (23 February 2009). "Discovery of a Giant Stellar Tidal Stream Around the Disk Galaxy NGC 4013". The Astrophysical Journal 692 (2): 955–963. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/955. Bibcode: 2009ApJ...692..955M.
23. ↑ Martinez-Delgado, David; Penarrubia, Jorge; Gabany, R. Jay; Trujillo, Ignacio; Majewski, Steven R.; Pohlen, Michael (10 December 2008). "The Ghost of a Dwarf Galaxy: Fossils of the Hierarchical Formation of the Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 5907". The Astrophysical Journal 689 (1): 184–193. doi:10.1086/592555. Bibcode: 2008ApJ...689..184M.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 Martinez-Delgado, David; Gabany, R. Jay; Crawford, Ken; Zibetti, Stefano; Majewski, Steven R.; Rix, Hans-Walter; Fliri, Jurgen; Carballo-Bello, Julio A. et al. (7 September 2010). "Stellar Tidal Streams in Spiral Galaxies of the Local Volume: A Pilot Survey with Modest Aperture Telescopes". The Astronomical Journal 140 (4): 962–967. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/140/4/962. Bibcode: 2010AJ....140..962M.
25. ↑ Médéric Boquien; Pierre-Alain Duc; Jonathan Braine; Elias Brinks et al. (2007). "Polychromatic view of intergalactic star formation in NGC 5291". Astronomy & Astrophysics 467 (1): 93–106. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20066692. Bibcode: 2007A&A...467...93B.

## External links

* NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 5907 (19 June 2008)
* NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 4013 (7 February 2008)
* NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 4651 (15 April 2010)
* NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 1055 (24 April 2010)
* NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 3521 (15 September 2011)

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