A HERO'S DARK HORSE: DISCOVERY OF AN ULTRA-FAINT MILKY WAY SATELLITE IN PEGASUS

We report the discovery of an ultra-faint Milky Way satellite galaxy in the constellation of Pegasus. The concentration of stars was detected by applying our overdensity detection algorithm to the SDSS-DR 10 and confirmed with deeper photometry from the Dark Energy Camera at the 4m Blanco telescope. Fitting model isochrones indicates that this object, Pegasus III, features an old and metal-poor stellar population ([Fe/H] similar to-2.1) at a heliocentric distance of 205 +/- 20 kpc. The new stellar system has an estimated half-light radius of r(h) = 78(-24)(+30)pc and a total luminosity of M-V similar to -4.1 +/- 0.5 that places it into the domain of dwarf galaxies on the size-luminosity plane. Pegasus III is spatially close to the MW satellite Pisces II. It is possible that the two might be physically associated, similar to the Leo IV and Leo V pair. Pegasus III is also well aligned with the Vast Polar Structure, which suggests a possible physical association.