Canis Major Overdensity

E459116

The Canis Major Overdensity is a debated stellar overdensity near the plane of the Milky Way, often interpreted as either the remnant core of a disrupted dwarf galaxy or a warp/flare feature of the Galactic disk.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Canis Major overdensity 2

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf astronomical object
controversial astronomical object
stellar overdensity
associatedWith Galactic flare
Galactic warp
Monoceros Ring NERFINISHED
consideredCandidate disrupted dwarf galaxy remnant
outer disk substructure
contains M-giant stars
old stellar populations
red clump stars
discoveredBy Gérard F. Gilmore NERFINISHED
Mike J. Irwin NERFINISHED
Rodrigo A. Ibata NERFINISHED
discoveredUsing 2MASS NERFINISHED
Two Micron All Sky Survey NERFINISHED
discoveryMethod star count analysis
discoveryYear 2003
distanceFromEarth approximately 25,000 light-years
approximately 7 kiloparsecs
galacticLatitude about minus 8 degrees
galacticLongitude about 240 degrees
galactocentricDistance approximately 13 kiloparsecs
hasAlternativeName CMa overdensity NERFINISHED
Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy candidate NERFINISHED
hasEstimatedStellarMass on the order of 10^8 solar masses
hasShape elongated along the Galactic plane
hasUncertainNature true
heliocentricDistance approximately 7 kiloparsecs
interpretedAs feature of the Galactic flare
feature of the Galactic warp
remnant core of a disrupted dwarf galaxy
locatedIn Milky Way
outer Galactic disk
locatedInConstellation Canis Major NERFINISHED
locatedNear Galactic plane
observedIn near-infrared wavelengths
optical wavelengths
overlapsWith Galactic disk
Galactic warp region
partOf outer Milky Way substructures
relatedTo Galactic accretion history
Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy NERFINISHED
studiedUsing color–magnitude diagrams
kinematic measurements
star counts in 2MASS survey
subjectOf debate about Galactic structure interpretation
debate about its extragalactic origin

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

CMa Overdensity alsoKnownAs Canis Major Overdensity
CMa Overdensity alsoKnownAs Canis Major Overdensity
this entity surface form: Canis Major overdensity
CMa Dwarf alternateName Canis Major Overdensity
Milky Way subgroup hasMember Canis Major Overdensity
Monoceros Ring relatedStructure Canis Major Overdensity
this entity surface form: Canis Major overdensity