Kinematics beats dust unveiling nested substructure in the perturbed outer disc of the Milky Way

Chervin F. P. Laporte*, Sergey E. Koposov, Vasily Belokurov

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

We use the Gaia eDR3 data and legacy spectroscopic surveys to map the Milky Way disc substructure towards the Galactic Anticenter at heliocentric distances d ≥ 10 kpc. We report the discovery of multiple previously undetected new filaments embedded in the outer disc in highly extincted regions. Stars in these over-densities have distance gradients expected for disc material and move on disc-like orbits with v ø ~ 170 - 230kms -1, showing small spreads in energy. Such a morphology argues against a quiescently growing Galactic thin disc. Some of these structures are interpreted as excited outer disc material, kicked up by satellite impacts and currently undergoing phase-mixing (disc streams, \feathers"). Due to the long timescale in the outer disc regions, these structures can stay coherent in configuration space over several Gyrs. We nevertheless note that some of these structures could also be folds in the perturbed disc seen in projection from the Sun's location. A full 6D phase-space characterization and age dating of these structure should help distinguish between the two possible morphologies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)L13-L17
Number of pages5
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume510
Issue number1
Early online date18 Oct 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • astro-ph.GA
  • Galaxy: stellar content
  • Galaxy: structure
  • Galaxy: kinematics and dynamics
  • Galaxy: disc

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