ScholarLens Back to search
1979•Symposium - International Astronomical UnionOpen access

Rotation curves of high-luminosity spiral galaxies and the rotation curve of our galaxy

Vera Rubin

Open full text 1 citations

Abstract

Rotation curves of high luminosity spiral galaxies are flat, to distances as great as r=49 kpc. This implies a significant mass at large r. Rotational velocities increase about 20 km/s across a spiral arm, as predicted by the density wave theory. By analogy, it is suggested that our Galaxy has a flat rotation curve out to r∼60 kpc, with V ∼ constant at near the solar rotational velocity, and m ∼7×1011 m⊙. Values of A and B imply that the sun is not located in a spiral arm.

Open-access reader

About this research paper

What this paper is about

Rotation curves of high luminosity spiral galaxies are flat, to distances as great as r=49 kpc. This implies a significant mass at large r. Rotational velocities increase about 20 km/s across a spiral arm, as predicted by the density wave theory. By analogy, it is suggested that our Galaxy has a flat rotation curve out to r∼60 kpc, with V ∼ constant at near the solar rotational velocity, and m ∼7×1011 m⊙. Values of A and B imply that the sun is not located in a spiral arm.

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 1 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

Rotation curves of high luminosity spiral galaxies are flat, to distances as great as r=49 kpc. This implies a significant mass at large r. Rotational velocities increase about 20 km/s across a spiral arm, as predicted by the density wave theory. By analogy, it is suggested that our Galaxy has a flat rotation curve out to r∼60 kpc, with V ∼ constant at near the solar rotational velocity, and m ∼7×1011 m⊙. Values of A and B imply that the sun is not located in a spiral arm.

Key concepts: Physics, Galaxy rotation curve, Astrophysics, Spiral galaxy, Luminosity, Rotation (mathematics), Irregular galaxy, Galaxy

Related papers

Related paper 1Related paper 2Related paper 3
Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Rotation curves of high-luminosity spiral galaxies and the rotation curve of our galaxy — Research Paper | ScholarLens