Mapping the X-Shaped Milky Way Bulge
Roberto K. Saito, Manuela Zoccali, Andrew McWilliam, Dante Minniti,, Oscar A. Gonzalez, Vanessa Hill

TL;DR
This study maps the X-shaped structure of the Milky Way bulge using red clump stars from 2MASS data, revealing a clear X-shape in the central bulge region and supporting its existence through density measurements.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed mapping of the Milky Way's bulge X-shape using RC stars, confirming its presence and symmetry in the inner galaxy.
Findings
X-shape visible in the Z-X plane near l=0°
Red clump stars split into two components at high longitudes
Density measurements support the X-structure's reality
Abstract
We analyzed the distribution of the RC stars throughout Galactic bulge using 2MASS data. We mapped the position of the red clump in 1 sq.deg. size fields within the area |l|<=8.5deg and l=0 deg axis. Crude measurements of the space densities of RC stars in the bright and faint RC populations are consistent with the adopted RC distances, providing further supporting evidence that the X-structure is real, and that there is approximate front-back symmetry in our bulge fields. We conclude that the Milky Way bulge has an X-shaped structure within $|l|<~2deg, seen almost…
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