Bootes III is a disrupting dwarf galaxy associated with the Styx stellar stream

TL;DR

This study measures the proper motion of Boötes III using Gaia data, revealing its orbit and supporting its identification as a disrupting dwarf galaxy linked to the Styx stream.

Contribution

First proper motion measurement of Boötes III using Gaia DR2 data, linking its orbit to the Styx stream and suggesting it is a disrupting dwarf galaxy.

Findings

Boötes III passed within ~12 kpc of the Galactic center 140 Myr ago.

Proper motion aligns with predictions for the Styx stream's retrograde motion.

Boötes III is likely a disrupting dwarf galaxy contributing to the Styx stream.

Abstract

We present proper motion measurements of Bo\"{o}tes III, an enigmatic stellar satellite of the Milky Way, utilizing data from the second data release of the Gaia mission. By selecting 15 radial velocity confirmed members of Bo\"{o}tes III, along with a likely RR Lyrae member in the vicinity, we measure an error weighted mean proper motion of $(\mu_{\alpha} \cos{\delta}, \mu_\delta) = (-1.14, -0.98)\pm(0.18, 0.20)$ mas/yr. We select and present further stars that may be Bo\"{o}tes III members based on their combined proper motion and position in the color magnitude diagram. We caution against assigning membership to stars that are not confirmed spectroscopically, as we demonstrate that there are contaminating stars from the disrupting globular cluster NGC 5466 in the vicinity of the main body of Bo\"{o}tes III, but we note that our results are consistent with previous Bo\"{o}tes III proper motion estimates that did not include spectroscopic members. Based on the measured proper motion and other known properties of Bo\"{o}tes III, we derive its Galactocentric velocity and compute its orbit given canonical Milky Way potentials with halo masses of both 0.8$\times$10$^{12}$ M$_{\odot}$ and 1.6$\times$10$^{12}$ M$_{\odot}$. These orbits robustly show that Bo\"{o}tes III passed within $\sim$12 kpc of the Galactic center on an eccentric orbit roughly 140 Myr ago. Additionally, the proper motion of Bo\"{o}tes III is in excellent agreement with predictions for the retrograde motion of the coincident Styx stellar stream. Given this, along with the small pericenter and metallicity spread of Bo\"{o}tes III itself, we suggest that it is a disrupting dwarf galaxy giving rise to the Styx stellar stream.