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LSST Observations of RR Lyrae Stars for Mapping the Galactic Halo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Hakeem M. Oluseyi ,
Andrew C. Becker ,
Christopher C. Culliton ,
Muhammad Furqan ,
Keri L. Hoadley ,
Paul Regencia ,
Akeem J. Wells ,
Lynne Jones ,
Simon Krughoff  and
Branimir Sesar
...Show all authors
Hakeem M. Oluseyi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901USA email: holuseyi@fit.edu
Andrew C. Becker
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of Washington 3910 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98195USA
Christopher C. Culliton
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901USA email: holuseyi@fit.edu
Muhammad Furqan
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901USA email: holuseyi@fit.edu
Keri L. Hoadley
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901USA email: holuseyi@fit.edu
Paul Regencia
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901USA email: holuseyi@fit.edu
Akeem J. Wells
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida 32901USA email: holuseyi@fit.edu
Lynne Jones
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of Washington 3910 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98195USA
Simon Krughoff
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of Washington 3910 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98195USA
Branimir Sesar
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125USA
Suzanne Jacoby
Affiliation:
LSST Corporation, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0009USA
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Abstract

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The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an anticipated to undertake a 10–year, 3π steradian survey that promises to observe millions of new periodic variable stars. We report on a study to determine the efficiency of the LSST to recover the light curve properties of RR Lyrae stars. An LSST light curve simulation tool was used to sample input idealized light curves or RR Lyrae stars observed in SDSS Stripe 82 data, returning each as it would have been observed by LSST, including realistic photometric scatter, limiting magnitudes, and telescope downtime. Our results show that the LSST will be capable of mapping the spatial distributions and chemical compositions of halo stellar overdensities using RR Lyrae discovered across 3π steradians and out to nearly 1.5 Mpc. LSST will thus enable the mapping of halo merger streams, the discovery of new dwarf galaxies, and the mapping galactic halos throughout the Local Group galaxies.

Keywords

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Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S277: Tracing the Ancestry of Galaxies (on the land of our ancestors) , December 2010 , pp. 300 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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