Previous | Session 40 | Next | Author Index | Block Schedule
P.M. Frinchaboy, S.R. Majewski (University of Virginia)
The Galactic matter distribution remains among the major unsolved problems about our Milky Way. We have measured radial velocities (RVs) of stars to derive cluster membership and kinematics for a large sample of Galactic open clusters to probe Milky Way mass distribution. We have collected a near uniform sample of spectroscopic data from stars in over 100 open clusters. These clusters have age, kinematics, and metallicities determined from uniform samples, depending on only one or two sources of data. We use these clusters to trace the rotation curve both inside and outside the solar circle, measure orbits for the clusters, and investigate the velocity field for all quadrants of the Galaxy.
We acknowledge funding by NSF grant AST-0307851, NASA/JPL contract 1228235, and the F.H. Levinson Fund of the Peninsula Community Foundation. Additionally, PMF is supported by a NASA-GSRP, a UVa Faculty Senate Dissertation-Year Fellowship, and by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.
Previous | Session 40 | Next
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.