Related papers: A mass-velocity anisotropy relation in galactic st…
Using a large sample of Main Sequence stars with 7-D measurements supplied by Gaia and SDSS, we study the kinematic properties of the local (within ~10 kpc from the Sun) stellar halo. We demonstrate that the halo's velocity ellipsoid…
The existence of the Fundamental Plane (FP) imposes strong constraints on the structure and dynamics of elliptical galaxies, and thus contains important information on the processes of their formation and evolution. Here we focus on the…
We measure the three components of velocity dispersion, $\sigma_{R},\sigma_{\theta},\sigma_{\phi}$, for stars within 6 < R < 30 kpc of the Milky Way using a new radial velocity sample from the MMT telescope. We combine our measurements with…
Theories of stellar orbit diffusion in disk galaxies predict different rates of increase of the velocity dispersions parallel and perpendicular to the disk plane, and it is therefore of interest to measure the different velocity dispersion…
We discuss the problem of using stellar kinematics of early-type galaxies to constrain the galaxies' orbital anisotropies and radial mass profiles. We demonstrate that compressing a galaxy's light distribution along the line of sight…
In this paper, we aim to estimate the vertical gradients in the rotational velocity of the Galaxy. This is carried out in the framework of a global thin disc model approximation. The predicted gradient values coincide with the observed…
Spherical galaxy models with radially anisotropic velocity distributions merge faster than their isotropic counterparts. Here we investigate the effects of radially anisotropic haloes on the dynamics of disc galaxy encounters. We use stable…
We study the evolution of globular clusters with mass spectra under the influence of the steady Galactic tidal field, including the effects of velocity anisotropy. Similar to single-mass models, velocity anisotropy develops as the cluster…
The Milky Way disc presents a warp, a flare, lopsidedness and other deviations from a purely axisymmetrical double exponential density component, both for the stellar and the gas component. Moreover, recent large-scale extended kinematics…
Accurate determination of the local dark matter density is important for understanding the nature and distribution of dark matter in the universe. This requires that the local velocity distribution is characterised correctly. Here, we…
The velocity ellipsoid for 38 globular clusters with [Fe/H] <= -1.0 is derived and shown to be significantly anisotropic with major axis directed towards low Galactic latitude. Principal axes of the spatial distribution of different groups…
Recent studies have revealed an oscillating asymmetry in the vertical structure of the Milky Way's disc. Here we analyze 16 high-resolution, fully cosmological simulations of the evolution of individual Milky Way-sized galaxies, carried out…
The relaxed motion of stars and gas in galactic discs is well approximated by a rotational velocity that is a function of radial position only, implying that individual components have lost any information about their prior states.…
The stellar halo of the Milky Way is known to have a highly lumpy structure due to the presence of tidal debris and streams accreted from the satellite galaxies. The abundance and distribution of these substructures can provide a wealth of…
This paper provides two families of flexible and simple galaxy models. Representatives of many of the families possess the important cosmological cusps, with the density behaving like 1/r or 1/r^1.33 or 1/r^1.5 at small radii. The density…
We analyse the orbital kinematics of the Milky Way (MW) satellite system utilizing the latest systemic proper motions for 38 satellites based on data from Gaia Data Release 2. Combining these data with distance and line-of-sight velocity…
In this work, two new axisymmetric models for the Galactic mass distribution are presented. Motivated by recent results, these two models include the contribution of a stellar thin disc and of a thick disc, as massive as the thin…
It is common practice, both in dynamical modelling and in idealised numerical simulations, to assume that galaxies and/or dark matter haloes are spherical and have isotropic velocity distributions, such that their distribution functions are…
We present the results of a study aimed at exploring the evolution towards energy equipartition in star cluster models with different initial degrees of anisotropy in the velocity distribution. Our study reveals a number of novel aspects of…
Clusters and groups of galaxies are highly aspherical, with shapes approximated by nearly prolate ellipsoids of revolution. An equally fundamental property is the shape of these objects in velocity space which is the anisotropy of the…