And they are just SOOOO adorable! Congratulations, MWG!

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0604354

From: Daniel Zucker [view email]

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 18:54:53 GMT (232kb)

A New Milky Way Dwarf Satellite in Canes Venatici

Authors: D. B. Zucker (1), V. Belokurov (1), N. W. Evans (1), M. I. Wilkinson (1), M. J. Irwin (1), T. Sivarani (2), S. Hodgkin (1), D. M. Bramich (1), J. M. Irwin (1), G. Gilmore (1), B. Willman (3), S. Vidrih (1), M. Fellhauer (1), P. C. Hewett (1), T. C. Beers (2), E. F. Bell (4), E. K. Grebel (5), D. P. Schneider (6), H. J. Newberg (7), R. F. G. Wyse (8), C. M. Rockosi (9), B. Yanny (10), R. Lupton (11), J. A. Smith (12), J. C. Barentine (13), H. Brewington (13), J. Brinkmann (13), M. Harvanek (13), S. J.Kleinman (13), J. Krzesinski (13,14), D. Long (13), A. Nitta (13), S. A. Snedden (13) ((1) Cambridge University, (2) Michigan State University, (3) New York University, (4) MPIA, Heidelberg, (5) University of Basel, (6) Pennsylvania State University, (7) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (8) JHU, (9) Lick Observatory/UCSC, (10) FNAL, (11) Princeton University, (12) LANL, (13) Apache Point Observatory, (14) Cracow Pedagogical University)

Comments: 4 pages, 4 figures; submitted to ApJ Letters

In this Letter, we announce the discovery of a new dwarf satellite of the Milky Way, located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was found as a stellar overdensity in the North Galactic Cap using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 (SDSS DR5). The satellite's color-magnitude diagram shows a well-defined red giant branch, as well as a horizontal branch. As judged from the tip of the red giant branch, it lies at a distance of ~220 kpc. Based on the SDSS data, we estimate an absolute magnitude of Mv ~ -7.9, a central surface brightness of mu_0,V ~ 28 mag arcsecond^-2, and a half-light radius of \~ 8.5' (~ 550 pc at the measured distance). The outer regions of Canes Venatici appear extended and distorted. The discovery of such a faint galaxy in proximity to the Milky Way strongly suggests that more such objects remain to be found.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0604354

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0604355

From: N. W. Evans [view email]

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:14:48 GMT (279kb)

A Faint New Milky Way Satellite in Bootes

Authors: V. Belokurov (1), D. B. Zucker (1), N. W. Evans (1), M. I. Wilkinson (1), M. J. Irwin (1), S. Hodgkin (1), D. M. Bramich (1), J. M. Irwin (1), G. Gilmore (1), B. Willman (2), S. Vidrih (1), H. J. Newberg (3), R. F. G. Wyse (4), M. Fellhauer (1), P. C. Hewett (1), N. Cole (3), E. F. Bell (5), T. C. Beers (6), C. M. Rockosi (7), B. Yanny (8), E. K. Grebel (9), D. P. Schneider (10), R. Lupton (11), J. C. Barentine (12), H. Brewington (12), J. Brinkmann (12), M. Harvanek (12), S. J.Kleinman (12), J. Krzesinski (12,13), D. Long (12), A. Nitta (12), J. A. Smith (14), S. A. Snedden (12) ((1) Cambridge University, (2) New York University, (3) Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute, (4) JHU, (5) MPIA, Heidelberg, (6) Michigan State University, (7) Lick Observatory, UCSC, (8) FNAL, (9) University of Basel, (10) Pennsylvania State University, (11) Princeton University, (12) Apache Point Observatory, (13) Cracow Pedagogical University, (14) LANL)

Comments: Submitted to ApJ (Letters)

In this Letter, we announce the discovery of a new satellite of the Milky Way in the constellation of Bootes at a distance of 60 kpc. It was found in a systematic search for stellar overdensities in the North Galactic Cap using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 (SDSS DR5). The color-magnitude diagram shows a well-defined turn-off, red giant branch, and extended horizontal branch. Its absolute magnitude is -5.7, which makes it fainter than the faintest galaxy known. The half-light radius is 220 pc. The isodensity contours are elongated and have an irregular shape.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0604355