2020•arXiv (Cornell University)Open access
The stellar velocity distribution function in the Milky Way galaxy
Borja Anguiano, Steven R. Majewski, Christian R. Hayes, Carlos Allende Prieto, Xinlun Cheng, C. Moni Bidin, Beaton, Rachael L., Beers, Timothy C., Minniti, Dante
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Abstract
The stellar velocity distribution function (DF) in the solar vicinity is re-examined using data from the SDSS APOGEE survey's DR16 and \emph{Gaia} DR2. By exploiting APOGEE's ability to chemically discriminate with great reliability the thin disk, thick disk and (accreted) halo populations, we can, for the first time, derive the three-dimensional velocity DFs for these chemically-separated populations. We employ this smaller, but more data-rich APOGEE+{\it Gaia} sample to build a \emph{data-driven model} of the local stellar population velocity DFs, and use these as basis vectors for assessing the relative density proportions of these populations over 5 $