Constraining the Galactic bar using the M92 stellar stream

TL;DR

This paper uses spectroscopic data of the M92 stellar stream to constrain the Milky Way's bar pattern speed, providing new insights into the galaxy's inner gravitational potential.

Contribution

First spectroscopic confirmation of the M92 stream and its use to estimate the Milky Way's bar pattern speed through comparison with mock streams.

Findings

Estimated the MW bar pattern speed as 29.1 km/s/kpc.

Confirmed the existence of the M92 stream with spectroscopic data.

Provided the first probabilistic inference of bar properties using a stellar stream.

Abstract

Stellar streams are excellent probes of the gravitational potential in which they evolve. In the Milky Way (MW), globular cluster (GC) streams are routinely used to infer properties about time-dependent perturbations of the underlying potential. This implies that streams with Galactocentric radii small enough to be perturbed by the MW bar should offer constraints on it, such as its pattern speed, which currently has a wide range of values reported in the literature and is important when studying stellar kinematics. The GC M92 has a small pericentre and should be affected by the bar. It has a diffuse stellar stream, but confirming stream members has previously been hindered by a lack of spectroscopic data. In this paper, we use Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) observations together with photometric and astrometric data to obtain spectroscopic members of the M92 stream for the first time. We identify a clear spatial distribution and gradients in distance moduli, proper motions, and radial velocities that confirm the stream's existence. We compare the observed stream to mock streams generated in different barred potentials and estimate the MW bar's pattern speed $\Omega = 29.1^{+0.7}_{-0.4}$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$ and $\dot \Omega = 0.7^{+3.5}_{-2.3}$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$ Gyr$^{-1}$. This is the first time a stellar stream is used to probabilistically infer these bar properties, and it opens up an exciting realm of inner Galactic potential characterisation using stellar streams.