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Mass distribution of the Galaxy with VERA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Nobuyuki Sakai
Affiliation:
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Mitaka, Tokyo181-8588, Japan
Mareki Honma
Affiliation:
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Mitaka, Tokyo181-8588, Japan Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, NAOJ, Mitaka, Tokyo181-8588
Hiroyuki Nakanishi
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University, 1-21-35 Korimoto, Kagoshima, Kagoshima 890-0065 email: nobuyuki.sakai@nao.ac.jp
Hirofumi Sakanoue
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University, 1-21-35 Korimoto, Kagoshima, Kagoshima 890-0065 email: nobuyuki.sakai@nao.ac.jp
Tomoharu Kurayama
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University, 1-21-35 Korimoto, Kagoshima, Kagoshima 890-0065 email: nobuyuki.sakai@nao.ac.jp
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Abstract

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We aim to reveal the mass distribution of the Galaxy based on a precise rotation curve constructed using VERA observations. We have been observing Galactic H2O masers with VERA. We here report one of the results of VERA for IRAS 05168+3634. The parallax is 0.532 ± 0.053 mas which corresponds to a distance of 1.88+0.21−0.17 kpc, and the proper motions are (μαcosδ, μδ) = (0.23 ± 1.07, −3.14 ± 0.28) mas yr−1. The distance is significantly smaller than the previous distance estimate of 6 kpc based on a kinematic distance. This drastic change places the source in the Perseus arm rather than in the Outer arm. Combination of the distance and the proper motions with the systemic velocity provides a rotation velocity of 227+9−11 km s−1 at the source assuming Θ0 = 240 km s−1. The result is marginally slower than the rotation velocity at LSR with ~ 1−σ significance, but consistent with previous VLBI results for six sources in the Perseus arm. We also show the averaged disk peculiar motion over the seven sources in the Perseus arm as (Umean, Vmean) = (11 ± 3, −17 ± 3) km s−1. It suggests that the seven sources in the Perseus arm are systematically moving toward the Galactic center, and lag behind the Galactic rotation with more than 3-σ significance.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012

References

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