1995/11/01 by M. J. Irwin, S. Demers, W. E. Kunkel · 20 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Cluster (spacecraft) #Galactic halo #Galactic plane #Galaxy #Globular cluster #Halo #Horizontal branch #Open cluster #Physics #Sky #Star cluster #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Subgiant
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/513301
published in The Astrophysical Journal 453(1), L21-L24 (IOP Publishing)
openalex publication_date 1995/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
One of the "interesting" objects identified by Weinberger during an eyeball search of sky survey plates for planetary nebulae is a previously unrecognized distant Galactic halo globular cluster. Deep B , R , and I CCD frames of the object to R = 23 reveal it to be a cluster of stars some 2' in core size, with a well-defined main sequence with a turnoff at R = 22 and a sparsely populated subgiant branch leading to a stubby red horizontal branch at R = 18.7. With a reddening-corrected distance modulus of 18.0, corresponding to a distance of 40 kpc, the Pyxis globular cluster is the latest addition to an exclusive club of distant Galactic satellites. Pyxis is similar in morphological appearance to other outer halo globular clusters and lies tantalizingly close to the plane of the Magellanic Clouds orbit (Jones and coworkers), suggesting it might be a detached cluster of this system.