%AZucker, Catherine%APeek, J.%ALoebman, Sarah%BJournal Name: The Astrophysical Journal; Journal Volume: 936; Journal Issue: 2; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2024-01-16 12:36:34 %D2022%IDOI PREFIX: 10.3847 %JJournal Name: The Astrophysical Journal; Journal Volume: 936; Journal Issue: 2; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2024-01-16 12:36:34 %K %MOSTI ID: 10371199 %PMedium: X; Size: Article No. 160 %TDisconnecting the Dots: Re-examining the Nature of Stellar “Strings” in the Milky Way %X
Recent analyses of Gaia data have resulted in the identification of new stellar structures, including a new class of extended stellar filaments called stellar “strings,” first proposed by Kounkel & Covey. We explore the spatial, kinematic, and chemical composition of strings to demonstrate that these newfound structures are largely inconsistent with being physical objects whose members share a common origin. Examining the 3D spatial distribution of string members, we find that the spatial dispersion around the claimed string spine does not improve in the latest Gaia DR3 data release—despite tangible gains in the signal-to-noise ratio of the parallax measurements—counter to expectations of a bona fide structure. Using the radial velocity dispersion of the strings (averaging