Radial velocities of Milky Way inner halo stars Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. King III C.
  2. Brown W.R.
  3. Geller M.J.
  4. Kenyon S.J.
  5. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We measure the three components of velocity dispersion, {sigma}_R_, {sigma}_{theta}_, {sigma}_{phi}_, for stars within 6<R<30kpc of the Milky Way using a new radial velocity sample from the MMT telescope. We combine our measurements with previously published data so that we can more finely sample the stellar halo. We use a maximum likelihood statistical method for estimating mean velocities, dispersions, and covariances assuming only that velocities are normally distributed. The alignment of the velocity ellipsoid is consistent with a spherically symmetric gravitational potential. From the spherical Jeans equation, the mass of the Milky Way is M(R<=12kpc)=1.3x10^11^M_{sun}_ with an uncertainty of 40%. We also find a region of discontinuity, 15<~R<~25kpc, where the estimated velocity dispersions and anisotropies diverge from their anticipated values, confirming the break observed by others. We argue that this break in anisotropy is physically explained by coherent stellar velocity structure in the halo, such as the Sgr stream. To significantly improve our understanding of halo kinematics will require combining radial velocities with future Gaia proper motions.

Keywords
  1. radial-velocity
  2. f-stars
  3. halo-stars
  4. visible-astronomy
  5. sloan-photometry
  6. milky-way-galaxy
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2015ApJ...813...89K
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/813/89
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/813/89
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.18130089

Access

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http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/813/89
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http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/813/89/table2?

History

2016-03-18T12:52:30Z
Resource record created
2016-03-18T12:52:30Z
Created
2017-01-23T22:00:00Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr