Unraveling the Galactic Thick Disk with QUEST-I RR Lyrae stars

Authors
Dr.
Cecilia Mateu
Date and time
26 May 2011 - 00:00 Europe/London
Address

Aula

Talk language
English
Slides language
English
Serie number
1
Description

I will present results from the QUEST RR Lyrae Survey of the Galactic Thick Disk. The survey spans ~480 sq. deg. at low latitude |b|<30 deg with multi-epoch VRI observations. The spatial coverage of the survey together with the deep multi-band multi-epoch photometry allowed for the derivation of the thick disk structural parameters from in situ RR Lyrae stars having accurate distances (errors <7%) and individual reddening derived from each star's color curve at minimum light. Additionally, the use of RR Lyrae stars as tracers ensures negligible contamination from the Galactic Thin Disk. I will present our results for the thick disk mean scale height, scale length and local density of RR Lyrae stars, derived from the radial and vertical mean density profiles. I will also present evidence of thick disk flaring and results that may suggest the thick disk radial density profile shows signs of anti-truncation. I will discuss our findings in light of recent thick disk formation models

Type
Format