photoD with <i>Rubin</i> ’s Data Preview 1: First stellar photometric distances and faint blue star deficits
Aims . We investigate the utility of Rubin ’s Data Preview 1 (DP1) for estimating stellar number density profiles across the Milky Way halo. Methods . We used stellar broad-band near-UV to near-IR ugrizy photometry released in Rubin ’s DP1 to estimate distance and metallicity for blue main sequence stars brighter than r = 24 in three ~1.1 sq. deg. fields at southern Galactic latitudes. Results . Compared to TRILEGAL simulations of the Galaxy’s stellar content, we found a likely deficit of blue main sequence turn-off stars with 22 < r < 24. We interpreted this discrepancy as a signature of a steeper halo number density profile at galactocentric distances 10–50 kpc than the canonical ~1/ r 3 profile assumed in TRILEGAL simulations. Conclusions . This interpretation is consistent with earlier suggestions based on observations of more luminous, but much less numerous, evolved stellar populations, along with a few pencil beam surveys of blue main sequence stars in the northern sky. These results bode well for the future Galactic halo exploration with Rubin ’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
Authors
- H.-F. Chiang
- P. N. Daly
- S. Thomas
- S. M. Kahn
- C. Juramy-Gilles
- S. Liang
- N. B. Lust
- S. Campos
- I. V. Kotov
- J. D. Swinbank
- J. Sebag
- A. J. Connolly
- G. Kovács
- B. Willman
- Ž. Ivezić
- A. E. Bauer
- R. Plante
- B. T. Jannuzi
- N. Sedaghat
- J. Hoblitt
- K. Malanchev
- J. C. Lazarte
- T. Lange
- E. Acosta
- T. Jurkić
- O. Lynn
- N. R. Kurita
- P. Ingraham
- L. P. Guy
- R. A. Shaw
- M. Jurić
- D. Branton
- K. Mrakovčić
- V. J. Riot
- D. L. Tucker
- W. van Reeven
- F. Menanteau
- J. L. Carlin
- D. L. Burke
- G. Pastorelli
- M. Trabucchi
- R. H. Schindler
- E. S. Rykoff
- W. Beebe
- J. G. Thayer
- M. Lutfi
- É. Aubourg
- A. Kannawadi
- R. D. Blum
- M. N. Porter
- F. Jammes
- M. DeLucchi
- Y. Choi
- Y. J. Kang
- M. Miller
- C. L. Adair
- L. S. Kelvin
- D. Calabrese
- A. Shugart
- B. Van Klaveren
- B. Abel
- S. Dagoret-Campagne
- E. C. Bellm
- D. Jones
- F. Daruich
- M. Miralles Lopez
- A. M. Eisner
- D. Laporte
- A. I. Malz
- N. Caplar
- O. Eiger
- E. Donev
- M. J. Jee
- A. Roodman
- A. A. Plazas Malagón
- M. T. Booth
- K. B. Siruno
- R. Tighe
- S. Zaggia
- L. Girardi
- H. Y. Park
- G. Daubard
- E. Nourbakhsh
- M. Moniez
- C. Z. Waters
- M. Turri
- J. A. Smith
- A. Boucaud
- S. McGuire
- E. K. Urbach
- J. Andrew
- K. A. Reil
- L. Palaversa
- R. W L Jones
- J. E. Peterson
- H. Drass
- T. Jenness
- E. Dennihy
- G. Mainetti
Institutions
- Florida Institute of Technology (US)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Rijeka (HR)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Duke University (US)
- Austin Peay State University (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Yonsei University (KR)
- Université Clermont Auvergne (FR)
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Discovery Centre (CA)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Galileo Galilei Institute for Theoretical Physics (IT)
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- Olympic College (US)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Sorbonne Paris Cité (FR)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US)
- Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (FR)
- Institute of Astronomy (RU)
- Ruđer Bošković Institute (HR)
- Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (FR)
- Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie (FR)
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications (US)
- Centre de Calcul de l’Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (FR)
- Astronomy and Space (AU)
- NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (CL)
- Material Measurement Laboratory (US)
- Astronomical Observatory (RS)
- Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (IT)
- Gymnasium am Münsterplatz (CH)
- Yellowstone Ecological Research Center (US)
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2026-02-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557219
- Primary Topic
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00