A&A 598, A58 (2017) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201629990 & c ESO 2017 Astrophysics A box full of chocolates: The rich structure of the nearby stellar halo revealed by Gaia and RAVE Amina Helmi1, Jovan Veljanoski1, Maarten A. Breddels1, Hao Tian1, and Laura V. Sales2 1 Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Landleven 12, 9747 AD Groningen, The Netherlands e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA Received 1 November 2016 / Accepted 21 December 2016 ABSTRACT Context. The hierarchical structure formation model predicts that stellar halos should form, at least partly, via mergers. If this was a predominant formation channel for the Milky Way’s halo, imprints of this merger history in the form of moving groups or streams should also exist in the vicinity of the Sun. Aims. We study the kinematics of halo stars in the Solar neighbourhood using the very recent first data release from the Gaia mission, and in particular the TGAS dataset, in combination with data from the RAVE survey. Our aim is to determine the amount of substructure present in the phase-space distribution of halo stars that could be linked to merger debris. Methods. To characterise kinematic substructure, we measured the velocity correlation function in our sample of halo (low- metallicity) stars. We also studied the distribution of these stars in the space of energy and two components of the angular momentum, in what we call “integrals of motion” space. Results. The velocity correlation function reveals substructure in the form of an excess of pairs of stars with similar velocities, well above that expected for a smooth distribution.