2006•Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyOpen access
Planetary nebula velocities in the disc and bulge of M31
C. Halliday, D. Carter, Terry J. Bridges, Z. C. Jackson, Mark I. Wilkinson, D. P. Quinn, N. W. Evans, Nigel G. Douglas, H. R. Merrett, M. R. Merrifield, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Konrad H. Kuijken, M. Irwin
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Abstract
We present radial velocities for a sample of 723 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the disk and bulge of M31, measured using the WYFFOS fibre spectrograph on the William Herschel telescope. Velocities are determined using the [OIII] 5007 Angstrom emission line. Rotation and velocity dispersion are measured to a radius of 50 arcminutes (11.5 kpc), the first stellar rotation curve and velocity dispersion profile for M31 to such a radius. Our kinematics are consistent with rotational support at radii well beyond the bulge effective radius of 1.4kpc, although our data beyond a radius of 5kpc are limited. We present tentative evidence for kinematic substructure in the bulge of M31 to be studied fully in a later work. This paper is part of an ongoing project to constrain the total mass, mass distribution and velocity anisotropy of the disk, bulge and halo of M31.
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