Tia Camarillo | Searcharxiv

arXiv2018

Median Statistics Estimate of the Galactic Rotational Velocity

We compile a complete collection of 19 recent (since 2000) measurements of $Θ_0$, the rotational velocity of the Milky Way at $R_0$ (the radial distance of the Sun from the Galactic center). These measurements use tracers that are believed to more accurately reflect the systematic rotation of the Milky Way. Unlike other recent compilations of $Θ_0$, our collection includes only independent measurements. We find that these 19 measurements are distributed in a mildly non-Gaussian fashion and a median statistics estimate indicates $Θ_0 = 220\ \pm 10$ km\,s$^{-1}$ (2$σ$ error) as the most reliable summary, at $R_0 = 8.0 \pm 0.3$ kpc (2$σ$ error).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Median Statistics Estimate of the Distance to the Galactic Center

We show that error distributions of a compilation of 28 recent independent measurements of the distance from the Sun to the Galactic center, $R_{0}$, are wider than a standard Gaussian and best fit by an $n=4$ Student's $t$ probability density function. Given this non-Gaussianity, the results of our median statistics analysis, summarized as $R_{0}=8.0 \pm 0.3$ kpc ($2σ$ error), probably provides the most reliable estimate of $R_{0}$.

astro-ph.GA↗