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The Discovery of Tidal Tails Around NGC 5466

V. Belokurov·N. W. Evans·M. J. Irwin·P. C. Hewett·M. I. Wilkinson
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Abstract

We report the discovery of tidal tails around the high-latitude Galactic globular cluster NGC 5466 in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. Neural networks are used to reconstruct the probability distribution of cluster stars in u,g,r,i and z space. The tails are clearly visible, once extra-galactic contaminants and field stars have been eliminated. They extend roughly 4 degrees on the sky, corresponding to about 1 kpc in projected length. The orientation of the tails is in good agreement with the cluster's Galactic orbit, as judged from the proper motion data.

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V. Belokurov, N. W. Evans, M. J. Irwin, P. C. Hewett, M. I. Wilkinson. 2005-11-28. The Discovery of Tidal Tails Around NGC 5466. https://doi.org/10.1086/500362

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