Quantifying the Smoothness of the Stellar Halo: A Link to Accretion History

TL;DR

This paper uses the 3D Two-Point Correlation Function to analyze the structure of the Milky Way's stellar halo, linking its smoothness to a quiescent accretion history primarily around 8 billion years ago.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of the 3D 2PCF to stellar halo data and compares observations with simulations to infer the Galaxy's accretion history.

Findings

The stellar halo's structure is broadly consistent with simulations.

The inner halo appears smoother than average at small scales.

The Milky Way's halo likely experienced most accretion activity around 8 Gyr ago.

Abstract

We investigate the utility of the 3-dimensional Two-Point Correlation Function (3D 2PCF) in quantifying substructure in the stellar halo of the Milky Way, particularly as a means of constraining the accretion history of our Galaxy. We use RR Lyrae variable stars from two different surveys as tracers of the structure in the Galactic stellar halo. We compare our measurements of the 3D 2PCF in these datasets to a suite of simulations of the formation of the stellar halo from Bullock and Johnston (2005). While there is some room for interpretation, we find that the amounts of structure to be broadly consistent with the simulations, while appearing smoother than average within the inner halo and at small scales. This suggests a preferred accretion history scenario in which the Milky Way's stellar halo acquired most of its mass about ~8 Gigayears ago, and has been largely quiescent since. Finally, we discuss the prospects of statistical tools such as the 2PCF in the Gaia era of galactic archaeology.