List of stellar streams

This is a list of stellar streams. A stellar stream is an association of stars orbiting a galaxy. It was once a globular cluster or dwarf galaxy that has now been torn apart and stretched out along its orbit by tidal forces. An exception in the list about Milky Way streams given below is the Magellanic Stream, composed of gas (mostly hydrogen), although in 2023 a population of stars has been described inside it.

Streams beyond the Local Group
Due to new deeper sky surveys, such as the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey, a large number of streams are to be expected to be discovered in the future. An initial search in 2023 by Martínez-Delgado et al. searched 389 galaxies and found 89 candidates with stellar streams (22,9%). They plan to search about 3100 galaxies, which might yield hundreds of candidates. In the pasts less sensitive surveys such as SDSS were only able to detect the brightest stellar streams.