Improved constraints on the Milky Way potential using the M68 stream and DESI spectroscopic data

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ID: 333477
2026
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Abstract
Abstract We present a selection of stars belonging to the stellar stream of the M68 (NGC 4590) globular cluster, also known as Fjörm. This star selection is an improvement on previous ones that used only Gaia data, as it incorporates spectroscopic measurements from the DESI survey and photometric data from the DESI Legacy Surveys. The selection contains 96 stars, each with five phase-space parameters from Gaia-DR3 and radial velocity from DESI, covering the entire observed section of the stream. This constitutes the largest selection of M68 stream stars with measured radial velocities to date. The observed stream is wider than expected from N-body simulations, and the stars farthest from the centre of the stream appear to be correlated in radial velocity space. This suggests that these stars cannot have been stripped from the cluster in a static axisymmetric potential. By modelling a mock sample of stream stars created using an N-body simulation, we found that we could reliably constrain the disc mass Md and the dark matter halo axis ratio qh of the Milky Way. This is because the stream flows close to and almost parallel to the disc. Using the 44 stars that are consistent with having been stripped from the cluster, combined with measurements of the Milky Way’s rotation curve, we constrain the Galactic potential, obtaining Md = 5.34 ± 0.57 × 1010 M⊙ and an oblate halo of $q_{\rm h} = 0.83^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$. Additionally, by fitting the stream track, we estimate the Heliocentric distance of M68 to be $r_H^{M68}=10.55\pm 0.09$ kpc.
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Authors Carles G. Palau, Wenting Wang, Jiaxin Han, Aguilar Jl., Steven P. Ahlen, F. Beutler, D Bianchi, D. Brooks, A. Carnero Rosell, Francisco Javier Castander, T. Claybaugh, A. Cuceu, A. de la Macorra, J. E. Forero-Romero, E. Gaztañaga, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, G. Gutierrez, J. Guy, D. Kirkby, Anthony Kremin, Martin Landriau, Laurent Le Guillou, Alexie Leauthaud, G. E. Medina, Aaron Meisner, R. Miquel, S. Nadathur, H. E. Noriega, E. Paillas, N. Palanque-Delabrouille, Will J. Percival, F. Prada, Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols, C. Ravoux, G. Rossi, Rossana Ruggeri, E. Sanchez, C. Saulder, D. Schlegel, Michael S. Schubnell, M. Siudek, G. Tarlé, B. A. Weaver, H. Zou
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1971
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1971
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