Is Ursa Major II the progenitor of the Orphan Stream?

Prominent in the 'Field of Streams'– the Sloan Digital Sky Survey map of substructure in the Galactic halo – is an 'Orphan Stream' without obvious progenitor. In this numerical study, we show a possible connection between the newly found dwarf satellite Ursa Major II (UMa II) and the Orphan Stream. We provide numerical simulations of the disruption of UMa II that match the observational data on the position, distance and morphology of the Orphan Stream. We predict the radial velocity of UMa II as −100 km s⁻¹, as well as the existence of strong velocity gradients along the Orphan Stream. The velocity dispersion of UMa II is expected to be high, though this can be caused both by a high dark matter content or by the presence of unbound stars in a disrupted remnant. However, the existence of a gradient in the mean radial velocity across UMa II provides a clear-cut distinction between these possibilities. The simulations support the idea that some of the anomalous, young halo globular clusters like Palomar 1 or Arp 2 or Ruprecht 106 may be physically associated with the Orphan Stream.     

Science Requirements on Future Missions and Simulated Mission Scenarios

The science requirements on future gravity satellite missions, following from the previous contributions of this issue, are summarized and visualized in terms of spatial scales, temporal behaviour and accuracy. This summary serves the identification of four classes of future satellite mission of potential interest: high-altitude monitoring, satellite-to-satellite tracking, gradiometry, and formation flights. Within each class several variants are defined. The gravity recovery performance of each of these ideal missions is simulated. Despite some simplifying assumptions, these error simulations result in guidelines as to which type of mission fulfils which requirements best.