Determination of the Galactic Rotation Using Open Star Clusters Preliminary Results.pdfVIP

5 0 DETERMINATION OF THE GALACTIC ROTATION 0 2 USING OPEN STAR CLUSTERS: PRELIMINARY g RESULTS u A 1 Peter M. Frinchaboy 3 and 1 Steven R. Majewski v University of Virginia, Department of Astronomy 6 P.O. Box 3818, Charlottesville, VA 22903-0818 6 pmf8b, srm4n@vriginia.edu 6 8 0 5 Abstract The dark matter distribution of the Milky Way remains among the major un- 0 solved problems about our home galaxy. The masses of other spiral galaxies / can be determined from their rotation curves through long-slit spectroscopy. But h for the Milky Way obtaining the complete rotation curve is a more complex p problem. By measuring the 3-dimensional motions of tracer objects the rotation - o curve and Galactic mass distribution can be derived, even outside the solar circle r where HI tangent point analysis is not possible. We present the first findings t s from a project to measure the motions of open clusters, both inside and outside a the solar circle. From a nearly uniform sample of spectroscopic data for large : v numbers of stars in over 50 open clusters in the third and fourth Galactic quad- i rants, we derive the speed of Galactic rotation at the solar circle as Θ0 = 214+6