Abstract
We present preliminary results of a RR Lyrae star search and stellar populations study performed in the Canis Major overdensity, spanning an area of 8.35 sq deg. The observations were made in R and V bands, with the QUEST camera installed in the 1-m Jürgen Stock Telescope at the Venezuela National Observatory. The resulting Hess diagram shows a possible, but weak, red giant branch and no obvious horizontal branch, red clump or main sequence turnoff. After a multi-epoch photometric search, 6 RR Lyrae stars were confirmed with further observations obtained at the 1.0-m and 1.3-m telescopes of the SMARTS consortium at CTIO. From these confirmed RR Lyrae stars, five of them have heliocentric distances between 5 and 7 kpc. Confirmation of their physical association with the Canis Major system awaits for a study of their radial velocities.
