Bibcode
Portail, M.; Wegg, C.; Gerhard, O.; Martinez-Valpuesta, I.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 448, Issue 1, p.713-731
Advertised on:
3
2015
Citations
157
Refereed citations
137
Description
We construct dynamical models of the Milky Way's box/peanut (B/P) bulge,
using the recently measured 3D density of red clump giants (RCGs) as
well as kinematic data from the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA)
survey. We match these data using the NMAGIC made-to-measure method,
starting with N-body models for barred discs in different dark matter
haloes. We determine the total mass in the bulge volume of the RCGs
measurement ( ± 2.2 × ±1.4 × ±1.2 kpc)
with unprecedented accuracy and robustness to be 1.84 ± 0.07
× 1010 M⊙. The stellar mass in this
volume varies between 1.25 and 1.6 × 1010
M⊙, depending on the amount of dark matter in the bulge.
We evaluate the mass-to-light and mass-to-clump ratios in the bulge and
compare them to theoretical predictions from population synthesis
models. We find a mass-to-light ratio in the K band in the range
0.8-1.1. The models are consistent with a Kroupa or Chabrier initial
mass function (IMF), but a Salpeter IMF is ruled out for stellar ages of
10 Gyr. To match predictions from the Zoccali IMF derived from the bulge
stellar luminosity function requires ˜40 per cent or ˜ 0.7
× 1010 M⊙ dark matter in the bulge
region. The BRAVA data together with the RCGs 3D density imply a low
pattern speed for the Galactic B/P bulge of Ωp = 25-30
km s- 1 kpc- 1. This would place the Galaxy among
the slow rotators (R ≥ 1.5). Finally, we show that the Milky Way's
B/P bulge has an off-centred X structure, and that the stellar mass
involved in the peanut shape accounts for at least 20 per cent of the
stellar mass of the bulge, significantly larger than previously thought.
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