An orphan in the "field of streams"

We use Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 photometry and spectroscopy to study a tidal stream that extends over ∼50° in the north Galactic cap. From the analysis of the path of the stream and the colors and magnitudes of its stars, the stream is ∼20_-5 ⁺⁷ kpc away at its nearest detection (the celestial equator). We detect a distance gradient: the stream is farther away from us at higher declination. The contents of the stream are made up from a predominantly old and metal-poor population that is similar to the globular clusters M13 and M92. The integrated absolute magnitude of the stream stars is estimated to be M_r ∼ -7.5. There is tentative evidence for a velocity signature, with the stream moving at ∼-40 km s ^-1 at low declinations and ∼+100 km s^-1 at high declinations. The stream lies on the same great circle as Complex A, a roughly linear association of H I high-velocity clouds stretching over ∼30° on the sky, and as Ursa Major II, a recently discovered dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Lying close to the same great circle are a number of anomalous, young, and metal-poor globular clusters, including Palomar 1 and Ruprecht 106.