A Strip Search for New Very Wide Halo Binaries
  We report on a search for new wide halo binary stars in SDSS Stripe 82. A
list of new halo wide binary candidates which satisfy common proper motion and
photometric constraints is provided. The projected separations of the sample
lie between 0.007-0.25pc. Although the sample is not large enough to improve
constraints on dark matter in the halo, we find the wide binary angular
separation function is broadly consistent with past work. We discuss the
significance of the new sample for a number of astrophysical applications,
including as a testbed for ideas about wide binary formation. For the subset of
candidates which have radial velocity information we make use of integrals of
motion to investigate one such scheme in which the origin of Galactic wide
binaries is associated with the accretion/disruption of stellar systems in the
Galaxy. Additional spectroscopic observations of these candidate binaries will
strengthen their usefulness in many of these respects. Based on our search
experience in Stripe 82 we estimate that the upcoming Pan-STARRS survey will
increase the sample size of wide halo binaries by over an order of magnitude.
