The Distribution of Nearby Stars in Velocity Space Inferred from [ITAL]Hipparcos[/ITAL] Data
The Distribution of Nearby Stars in Velocity Space Inferred from [ITAL]Hipparcos[/ITAL] Data
The velocity distribution f(v) of nearby stars is estimated, via a maximum likelihood algorithm, from the positions and tangential velocities of a kinematically unbiased sample of 14,369 stars observed by the Hipparcos satellite. The distribution f shows rich structure in the radial and azimuthal motions, vR and vφ, but not …