Abstract The sixth Data Release (DR6) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) provides more photometric regions, new features and more accurate data around globular cluster Palomar 5. A new method, Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN), is used to estimate the cluster membership probability in order to detect its tidal tails. Cluster and field stars, used for training the networks, are extracted over a 40 × 20 deg2 field by color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). The best BPNNs with two hidden layers and a Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) training algorithm are determined by the chosen cluster and field samples. The membership probabilities of stars in the whole field are obtained with the BPNNs, and contour maps of the probability distribution show that a tail extends 5.42° to the north of the cluster and another tail extends 3.77° to the south. The tails are similar to those detected by Odenkirchen et al., but no more debris from the cluster is found to the northeast in the sky. The radial density profiles are investigated both along the tails and near the cluster center. Quite a few substructures are discovered in the tails. The number density profile of the cluster is fitted with the King model and the tidal radius is determined as 14.28’. However, the King model cannot fit the observed profile at the outer regions (R >8’) because of the tidal tails generated by the tidal force. Luminosity functions of the cluster and the tidal tails are calculated, which confirm that the tails originate from Palomar 5.

Keywords methods: statistical —galaxy: halo—galaxy: structure—globular cluster: individual (Palomar 5)

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