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Abstract We report the discovery of three Milky Way satellite candidates: Carina IV, Phoenix III, and DELVE 7, in the third data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). The candidate systems were identified by cross-matching results from two independent search algorithms. All three are extremely faint systems composed of old, metal-poor stellar populations (τ ≳ 10 Gyr, [Fe/H] ≲−1.4). Carina IV (MV = −2.8;r1/2 = 40 pc) and Phoenix III (MV = −1.2;r1/2 = 19 pc) have half-light radii that are consistent with the known population of dwarf galaxies, while DELVE 7 (MV = 1.2;r1/2 = 2 pc) is very compact and seems more likely to be a star cluster, though its nature remains ambiguous without spectroscopic follow-up. The Gaia proper motions of stars in Carina IV ( ) indicate that it is unlikely to be associated with the LMC, while DECam CaHK photometry confirms that its member stars are metal poor. Phoenix III ( ) is the faintest known satellite in the extreme outer stellar halo (DGC > 100 kpc), while DELVE 7 ( ) is the faintest known satellite withDGC > 20 kpc.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available March 11, 2027
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