An Orphan in the "Field of Streams"

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Abstract
We use Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 u,g,r,i,z photometry to study a tidal stream that extends over 50 degrees in the ``Field of Streams'' map of the North Galactic Cap. From the analysis of the path of the stream and the colors and magnitudes of its stars, the stream is about 15 kpc away at its nearest detection (the celestial equator). There is evidence for a distance gradient towards larger heliocentric distances at higher declination. The stream lies on the same great circle as Complex A, a roughly linear association of HI high velocity clouds, stretching over 30 degrees on the sky. Lying close to the same great circle are a number of anomalous, young and metal-poor globular clusters, including Palomar 1 and Ruprecht 106. The agglomeration of features in this great circle plane suggests that all may be the remnants of the disruption of a much larger dwarf galaxy. As the progenitor remains unknown, this is truly the ``Orphan Stream''.

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