IDENTIFYING HIGH-METALLICITY M GIANTS AT INTRAGROUP DISTANCES WITH SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

Abstract

Tidal stripping and three-body interactions with the central supermassive black hole may eject stars from the
\nMilky Way. These stars would comprise a set of “intragroup” stars that trace the past history of interactions in our
\ngalactic neighborhood. Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7, we identify candidate solar-metallicity red giant
\nintragroup stars using color cuts that are designed to exclude nearby M and L dwarfs. We present 677 intragroup
\ncandidates that are selected between 300 kpc and 2Mpc, and are either the reddest intragroup candidates (M7–M10)
\nor are L dwarfs at larger distances than previously detected.