Blue horizontal-branch stars from SkyMapper colors Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Hu G.
  2. Huang Y.
  3. Cui W.
  4. Wang T.
  5. Xiao K.
  6. Shi R.
  7. Ju J.
  8. Huang B.
  9. Li C.,Liu Z.
  10. Wang X.
  11. Luo C.
  12. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

Blue horizontal-branch (BHB) stars are ideal tracers for mapping the structure of the Galactic stellar halo. Traditionally, BHB sample stars are built from large-scale spectroscopic surveys utilizing their spectral features; however, the resulting sample sizes have been quite limited. In this paper, we construct a catalog of BHB stars based on synthetic colors (u-v)0 and (g-i)0 in SkyMapper photometric systems, which are convolved from Gaia XP spectra. A total of 49,733 BHB stars are selected from nearly the entire sky (excluding regions of low Galactic latitudes |b|<=8{deg} with heavy reddening), with a completeness and purity exceeding 90%. Using member stars of globular clusters with precise distance determinations, we carefully calibrate the relationship between the g-band absolute magnitude and (g-i)0, achieving a precision of 0.11mag, which corresponds to a 5% uncertainty in distance. This relation is applied to derive distances for all BHB stars in the constructed sample. Given the current capabilities of Gaia XP observations, the constructed BHB sample is primarily located within 20 kpc, enabling detailed mapping of the inner stellar halo. To extend this depth to the outer halo or even the edge of our Galaxy, we explore the potential of the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) and its broadband photometry for detecting BHB stars. Using mock data from synthetic spectra, we find that it is feasible to distinguish BHB stars from blue stragglers stars using CSST near-ultraviolet band (u) photometry. Thanks to the deep limiting magnitude of CSST, its data will provide a groundbreaking perspective on our Galaxy, particularly regarding the outer halo, in an unprecedented volume.

Keywords
  1. horizontal-branch-stars
  2. two-color-diagrams
  3. visible-astronomy
  4. surveys
  5. milky-way-galaxy
  6. stellar-distance
  7. proper-motions
  8. photometry
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2025ApJS..278...62H
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJS/278/62
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/278/62

Access

Web browser access HTML
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJS/278/62
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJS/278/62
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJS/278/62
IVOA Table Access TAP
https://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJS/278/62/table2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJS/278/62/table2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJS/278/62/table2?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJS/278/62/table1?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJS/278/62/table1?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJS/278/62/table1?

History

2026-05-12T14:35:39Z
Resource record created
2026-05-12T14:15:55Z
Updated
2026-05-12T14:35:39Z
Created

Contact

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CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
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