Reinforcing the link between the double red clump and the X-shaped bulge of the Milky Way
arXiv:1510.05943 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527434
Abstract
The finding of a double red clump in the luminosity function of the Milky Way bulge has been interpreted as evidence for an X-shaped structure. Recently, an alternative explanation has been suggested, where the double red clump is an effect of multiple stellar populations in a classical spheroid. In this letter we provide an observational assessment of this scenario and show that it is not consistent with the behaviour of the red clump across different lines of sight, particularly at high distances from the Galactic plane. Instead, we confirm that the shape of the red clump magnitude distribution closely follows the distance distribution expected for an X-shaped bulge at critical Galactic latitudes. We also emphasize some key observational properties of the bulge red clump that should not be neglected in the search for alternative scenarios.
Accepted for publication in A&A Letters
References in corpus (4)
Cited by in corpus (25)
- Chemodynamical history of the Galactic Bulge
- Separation of Stellar Populations by an Evolving Bar: Implications for the Bulge of the Milky Way
- The X-shaped Bulge of the Milky Way revealed by WISE
- Extinction ratios in the inner Galaxy as revealed by the VVV survey
- Milky Way demographics with the VVV survey. IV. PSF photometry from almost one billion stars in the Galactic bulge and adjacent southern disk
- Barlenses and X-shape features compared: different manifestations of Boxy/Peanut bulges
- Galactic Bulge Population II Cepheids in the VVV Survey: Period-Luminosity Relations and a Distance to the Galactic Center
- The central spheroids of Milky Way mass-sized galaxies
- New insight on the origin of the double red clump in the Milky Way bulge
- The Quintuplet Cluster: Extended Structure and Tidal Radius
- The Gaia-ESO survey: Metal-rich bananas in the bulge
- Gauging the Helium Abundance of the Galactic Bulge RR Lyrae Stars
- Spitzer Microlensing Program as a Probe for Globular Cluster Planets. Analysis of OGLE-2015-BLG-0448
- Common Origin of Two RR Lyrae Populations and the Double Red Clump in the Milky Way Bulge
- HERBS I: Metallicity and alpha enhancement along the Galactic bulge minor axis
- A case against an X-shaped structure in the Milky Way young bulge
- Comparing bulge RR Lyrae stars with bulge giants -- Insight from 3D kinematics
- Astrometry in crowded fields towards the Galactic Bulge
- Testing for relics of past strong buckling events in edge-on galaxies: Simulation predictions and data from SG
- Predicted Trends in Milky Way Bulge Proper Motion Rotation Curves: future Prospects for HST and LSST
- Metallicity Properties of the Galactic Bulge Stars Near and Far: Expectations from the Auriga Simulation
- Analysing the structure of the bulge with Mira variables
- Rediscovering the Milky Way with orbit superposition approach and APOGEE data III. Panoramic view of the bulge
- Confirmation Of Two New Galactic Bulge Globular Clusters: FSR 19 and FSR 25
- Blanco DECam Bulge Survey (BDBS) IV: Metallicity Distributions and Bulge Structure from 2.6 Million Red Clump Stars