The QUEST RR Lyrae Survey: a search for substructure in the galactic halo
Robert Zinn (Yale)
For decades the origin of the stellar halo of the Milky Way has been a
central issue in the discussion of different pictures for the
formation of galaxies. The recent discoveries of stellar streams in
the halo have shown that a least part of it formed through the
tidal destruction of dwarf satellite galaxies, in qualitative
agreement with the hierarchical merger picture of galaxy formation.
The QUEST RR Lyrae survey is one of several ongoing searches for halo
substructures resulting from the destruction of dwarf galaxies and
globular clusters. The survey techniques and results will be
discussed and as will some follow-up spectroscopic observations that
contrain models of the stellar streams from the Sagittarius Dwarf
Spheroidal Galaxy.