<> "The repository administrator has not yet configured an RDF license."^^ . <> . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration"^^ . "This dissertation discusses various techniques for studying the structure of the Milky Way via the use\r\nof stellar tracers. One of the most widely used stellar tracers is blue horizontal branch stars, which\r\nare prized for their predictable and substantial intrinsic brightnesses and their old ages. We begin by\r\ncreating a z based photometric color cut for the selection of blue horizontal branch stars which may\r\nbe used in data produced by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System. Using this\r\ncolor cut, we select a sample of blue horizontal branch stars and pass them through a newly devised\r\nsearch algorithm which is capable of finding overdensities in incomplete and patchy data. From this,\r\nwe rediscover a number of well known Milky Way features and discover a new constraining detection\r\nof the Sagittarius tidal streams.\r\nIf we use spectroscopy in addition to photometry, we can isolate another stellar tracer, main sequence\r\nstars. A main sequence star's intrinsic magnitude is a function primarily of the mass and metallicity\r\nof the star; so with spectroscopy and photometry we can easily estimate the distance to these types of\r\nobjects.\r\nWe collect a sample of F-M type dwarf stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic data set.\r\nHaving spectroscopy and astrometry, we may assign six-dimensional phase information to these objects\r\nand then use that information to study their bulk motions as a function of position. Here, instead of\r\nlooking for large structure, we instead look to aberrations from large structure: using this relationship\r\nbetween motion and position as a probability density function, we select and characterize significant\r\noutliers. We also identify phenomenological objects such as hypervelocity and Hills stars. These types\r\nof stars are indirect probes of the Milky Way and are most useful for studying: the potential of the\r\nMilky Way, the locations of extreme overdensities such as spiral arms or black holes, and the structure\r\nof observationally obscure areas like the Galactic nucleus.\r\nDuring these studies of the motions and positions of stellar tracers in the Milky Way, accurate reports of\r\nthe proper motions are of critical importance. To investigate this we closely examine proper motions in\r\nthe Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the PPMXL proper motion catalogs and devise metrics for estimating\r\nthe accuracy of these proper"^^ . "2014" . . . . . . . "John J."^^ . "Vickers"^^ . "John J. Vickers"^^ . . . . . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration (PDF)"^^ . . . "vickers_thesis.pdf"^^ . . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration (Other)"^^ . . . . . . "lightbox.jpg"^^ . . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration (Other)"^^ . . . . . . "preview.jpg"^^ . . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration (Other)"^^ . . . . . . "medium.jpg"^^ . . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration (Other)"^^ . . . . . . "small.jpg"^^ . . . "Stellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration (Other)"^^ . . . . . . "indexcodes.txt"^^ . . "HTML Summary of #17761 \n\nStellar Tracers and Galactic Exploration\n\n" . "text/html" . . . "520 Astronomie"@de . "520 Astronomy and allied sciences"@en . . . "530 Physik"@de . "530 Physics"@en . .