OGLE-ing the Magellanic System: RR Lyrae Stars in the Bridge

Abstract

We use the extended and updated OGLE Collection of Variable Stars to thoroughly analyze distribution of RR Lyrae stars in the Magellanic Bridge. We use photometric metallicities to derive absolute Wesenheit magnitude and then individual distance of each RR Lyr star. We confirm results from our earlier study showing that RR Lyr stars are present in between the Magellanic Clouds, though their three-dimensional distribution rather resembles two extended overlapping structures than a strict bridge-like connection. The contours do connect in the southern parts of the Bridge, albeit on a too low level to state that there exists an evident connection. To test the sample numerically, we use multi-Gaussian fitting and conclude that there is no additional population or overdensity located in the Bridge. We also try to reproduce results on putative RR Lyr Magellanic Bridge stream by selecting RR Lyr candidates from Gaia Data Release 1. We show that we are not able to obtain the evident connection of the Clouds without many spurious sources in the sample, as the cuts are not able to remove artifacts and not eliminate the evident connection at the same time. Moreover, for the first time we present the Gaia Data Release 2 RR Lyr stars in the Magellanic Bridge area and show that their distribution matches our results.

arXiv comment17 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome

References in corpus (48)

• Scikit-learn: Machine Learning in Python
• Maps of Dust IR Emission for Use in Estimation of Reddening and CMBR Foregrounds
• Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties
• The Leiden/Argentine/Bonn (LAB) Survey of Galactic HI: Final data release of the combined LDS and IAR surveys with improved stray-radiation corrections
• Gaia Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties
• Reddening and Extinction Toward the Galactic Bulge from OGLE-III: The Inner Milky Way's Rv ~ 2.5 Extinction Curve
• GASS: The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey. I. Survey Description, Goals, and Initial Data Release
• The Role of Dwarf Galaxy Interactions in Shaping the Magellanic System and Implications for Magellanic Irregulars
• N-body Simulations of the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Magellanic Stream
• A New Look at the Kinematics of Neutral Hydrogen in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The RR Lyrae Period-Luminosity Relation. I. Theoretical Calibration
• Third-Epoch Magellanic Cloud Proper Motions II: The Large Magellanic Cloud Rotation Field in Three Dimensions
• Simulations of the Magellanic Stream in a First Infall Scenario
• The Tidal Origin of the Magellanic Stream and the Possibility of a Stellar Counterpart
• GASS: The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey. Update: improved correction for instrumental effects and new data release
• Metal Abundances, Radial Velocities and other Physical Characteristics for the RR Lyrae Stars in the Kepler Field
• N-body simulations of the Magellanic Stream
• A re-classification of Cepheids in the Gaia Data Release 2
• Clouds, Streams and Bridges. Redrawing the blueprint of the Magellanic System with Gaia DR1
• The Magellanic Bridge: The Nearest Purely Tidal Stellar Population
• On the distance of the globular cluster M4 (NGC 6121) using RR Lyrae stars: I. optical and near-infrared Period-Luminosity and Period-Wesenheit relations
• The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Is Interstellar Extinction Toward the Galactic Center Anomalous?
• Low Surface Brightness Imaging of the Magellanic System: Imprints of Tidal Interactions between the Clouds in the Stellar Periphery
• A 10 kpc stellar substructure at the edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud: perturbed outer disk or evidence for tidal stripping?
• First Results from the NOAO Survey of the Outer Limits of the Magellanic Clouds
• Constraining the orbital history of the Magellanic Clouds: A new bound scenario suggested by the tidal origin of the Magellanic Stream
• Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the variability processing & analysis results
• The Proper Motion Field Along the Magellanic Bridge: a New Probe of the LMC-SMC Interaction
• Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission IX. CoRoT-6b: a transiting `hot Jupiter' planet in an 8.9d orbit around a low-metallicity star
• Substructures and tidal distortions in the Magellanic stellar periphery
• Clouds in Arms
• The detection of an older population in the Magellanic Bridge
• The LMC geometry and outer stellar populations from early DES data
• The Clouds are breaking: tracing the Magellanic system with Gaia DR1 Mira variables
• OGLE-ing the Magellanic System: Stellar populations in the Magellanic Bridge
• The MAGellanic Inter-Cloud project (MAGIC) I: Evidence for intermediate-age stellar populations in between the Magellanic Clouds
• The Magellanic Inter-Cloud Project (MAGIC) III: First spectroscopic evidence of a dwarf stripping a dwarf
• A Genetic Approach to the History of the Magellanic Clouds
• Resolved Kinematics of Runaway and Field OB Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Exploring the Very Extended Low Surface Brightness Stellar Populations of the Large Magellanic Cloud with SMASH
• Rotation of the Milky Way and the formation of the Magellanic Stream
• The Properties of the Magellanic Bridge Based on OGLE IV RR Lyrae Variables
• Spatial motion of the Magellanic Clouds. Tidal models ruled out?
• Geometry of the Large Magellanic Cloud Using Multi- wavelength Photometry of Classical Cepheids
• OGLE-ing the Magellanic System: Cepheids in the Bridge
• Final Release of the OGLE Collection of Cepheids and RR Lyrae Stars in the Magellanic System. The Outer Regions
• Concluding Henrietta Leavitt's Work on Classical Cepheids in the Magellanic System and Other Updates of the OGLE Collection of Variable Stars
• The OGLE Collection of Variable Stars. Over 45 000 RR Lyrae Stars in the Magellanic System

Cited by in corpus (14)

• The Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) Alert Broker
• Revealing the tidal scars of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The VMC survey -- XLI. Stellar proper motions within the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Stellar substructures in the periphery of the Magellanic Clouds with the VISTA Hemisphere Survey from the red clump and other tracers
• The VMC survey -- XXXVIII. Proper motion of the Magellanic Bridge
• Gaia view of a stellar sub-structure in front of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Presence of red giant population in the foreground stellar sub-structure of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Gaia Early Data Release 3: Structure and properties of the Magellanic Clouds
• OGLE-ing the Magellanic System: Cepheids in the Bridge
• Spatio-temporal map of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds using Gaia: Synchronized peaks and radial shrinkage of cluster formation
• Residual velocities of Small Magellanic Cloud star clusters
• Strömgren photometric metallicity map of the Magellanic Cloud stars using Gaia DR3--XP spectra
• Revisiting a detached stellar structure in the outer northeastern region of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The VMC survey -- XLVI. Stellar proper motions in the centre of the Large Magellanic Cloud