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American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal, 1(574), p. L43-L46, 2002

DOI: 10.1086/342278

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An Upper Limit to the Age of the Galactic Bar

Journal article published in 2002 by Aa A. Cole ORCID, Martin D. Weinberg
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Using data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), we identify a population of infrared carbon (IR C) stars with J-K >= 2 in the Milky Way. These stars are shown to trace the stellar bar previously identified in IR and optical surveys. The properties of C stars strongly suggest that they are of intermediate age. We conclude that the bar is likely to have formed more recently than 3 Gyr ago, and must be younger than 6 Gyr. Implications and further tests of this conclusion are briefly discussed. Comment: accepted by ApJ Letters; 13 pages, 4 eps figures