A robust estimate of the Milky Way mass from rotation curve data

Abstract

We present a new estimate of the mass of the Milky Way, inferred via a Bayesian approach by making use of tracers of the circular velocity in the disk plane and stars in the stellar halo, as from the publicly available {\tt galkin} compilation. We use the rotation curve method to determine the dark matter distribution and total mass under different assumptions for the dark matter profile, while the total stellar mass is constrained by surface stellar density and microlensing measurements. We also include uncertainties on the baryonic morphology via Bayesian model averaging, thus converting a potential source of systematic error into a more manageable statistical uncertainty. We evaluate the robustness of our result against various possible systematics, including rotation curve data selection, uncertainty on the Sun's velocity $V_0$, dependence on the dark matter profile assumptions, and choice of priors. We find the Milky Way's dark matter virial mass to be ${\log }_{10}{M}_{200}^{\mathrm{DM}}/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }=11.92_{-0.05}^{+0.06}(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.28\pm 0.27(\mathrm{syst})$ ($M_{200}^{\mathrm{DM}}=8.3_{-0.9}^{+1.2}(\mathrm{stat})\times 10^{11}{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$). We also apply our framework to Gaia DR2 rotation curve data and find good statistical agreement with the above results.

32 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables, matches published version

References in corpus (26)

• Too big to fail? The puzzling darkness of massive Milky Way subhaloes
• Bayes in the sky: Bayesian inference and model selection in cosmology
• The Milky Way's Circular Velocity Curve to 60 kpc and an Estimate of the Dark Matter Halo Mass from Kinematics of ~2400 SDSS Blue Horizontal Branch Stars
• The RAVE Survey: Constraining the Local Galactic Escape Speed
• "Skinny Milky Way, Please", says Sagittarius
• Spatial distribution of interstellar gas in the innermost 3 kpc of our Galaxy
• On the Shoulders of Giants: Properties of the Stellar Halo and the Milky Way Mass Distribution
• Globular Cluster Streams as Galactic High-Precision Scales - The Poster Child Palomar 5
• Evidence for dark matter in the inner Milky Way
• Kinematics of the stellar halo and the mass distribution of the Milky Way using BHB stars
• The Mass Profile of the Galaxy to 80 kpc
• On the estimation of the Local Dark Matter Density using the rotation curve of the Milky Way
• Cosmic Ménage à Trois: The Origin of Satellite Galaxies On Extreme Orbits
• The universal rotation curve of dwarf disk galaxies
• The velocity dispersion and mass profile of the Milky Way
• The mass of our Milky Way
• Shaken and Stirred: The Milky Way's Dark Substructures
• A dynamical model of the local cosmic expansion
• The local high velocity tail and the Galactic escape speed
• Satellites of Simulated Galaxies: survival, merging, and their relation to the dark and stellar halos
• Bayesian Selection of sign(mu) within mSUGRA in Global Fits Including WMAP5 Results
• Milky Way mass constraints from the Galactic satellite gap
• Handling the Uncertainties in the Galactic Dark Matter Distribution for Particle Dark Matter Searches
• Bayesian Mass Estimates of the Milky Way II: The dark and light sides of parameter assumptions
• Stellar mass as a galaxy cluster mass proxy: application to the Dark Energy Survey redMaPPer clusters
• Subhalo statistics of galactic halos: beyond the resolution limit

Cited by in corpus (40)

• The Global Dynamical Atlas of the Milky Way mergers: Constraints from Gaia EDR3 based orbits of globular clusters, stellar streams and satellite galaxies
• Detection of the Keplerian decline in the Milky Way rotation curve
• Gaia EDR3 proper motions of Milky Way dwarfs I: 3D Motions and Orbits
• The Circular Velocity Curve of the Milky Way from 5 to 25 kpc using luminous red giant branch star
• Warm Dark Matter Constraints Using Milky-Way Satellite Observations and Subhalo Evolution Modeling
• Strong constraints on primordial black hole dark matter from 16 years of INTEGRAL/SPI observations
• Uncertainties in the Galactic dark matter distribution: an update
• Hot Extended Galaxy Halos Around Local L* Galaxies From Sunyaev-Zeldovich Measurements
• The Mass of the Milky Way from the H3 Survey
• Constraints on light decaying dark matter candidates from 16 years of INTEGRAL/SPI observations
• Milky Way total Mass derived by Rotation Curve and Globular Cluster kinematics from Gaia EDR3
• Milky Way Mass with K Giants and BHB Stars Using LAMOST, SDSS/SEGUE, and Gaia: 3D Spherical Jeans Equation and Tracer Mass Estimator
• Isotropic X-ray bound on Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter
• The sum of the masses of the Milky Way and M31: a likelihood-free inference approach
• Constraints on dark matter-neutrino scattering from the Milky-Way satellites and subhalo modeling for dark acoustic oscillations
• Globular cluster numbers in dark matter haloes in a dual formation scenario: an empirical model within EMERGE
• The VISCACHA survey -- II. Structure of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds periphery
• Which Milky Way masses are consistent with the slightly declining 5-25 kpc rotation curve?
• Revisiting the constraints on primordial black hole abundance with the isotropic gamma ray background
• A Bayesian estimation of the Milky Way's circular velocity curve using Gaia DR3
• Gaia EDR3 proper motions of Milky Way dwarfs. II: Velocities, Total Energy and Angular Momentum
• The Local Group's mass: probably no more than the sum of its parts
• X-Ray Constraints on Dark Photon Tridents
• On the growth of supermassive black holes formed from the gravitational collapse of fermionic dark matter cores
• Influence of local structure on relic neutrino abundances and anisotropies
• Constrained cosmological simulations of the Local Group using Bayesian hierarchical field-level inference
• The Unusual Milky Way-Local Sheet System: Implications for Spin Strength and Alignment
• Impact of uncertainties in the halo velocity profile on direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter
• Apocalypse When? No Certainty of a Milky Way -- Andromeda Collision
• Equilibrium axisymmetric halo model for the Milky Way and its implications for direct and indirect DM searches
• Dark Matter Freeze-In and Small-Scale Observables: Novel Mass Bounds and Viable Particle Candidates
• Semi-analytical frameworks for subhalos from the smallest to the largest scale
• Sensitivity Estimation for Dark Matter Subhalos in Synthetic Gaia DR2 using Deep Learning
• The outskirts of M33: Tidally induced distortions versus signatures of gas accretion
• Distinguishing dark matter halos with Extreme mass ratio inspirals
• Dark Dwarfs: Dark Matter-Powered Sub-Stellar Objects Awaiting Discovery at the Galactic Center
• On Stellar Migration from Andromeda to the Milky Way
• Structure Formation Limits on Axion-Like Dark Matter
• On the detection of stellar wakes in the Milky Way: a deep learning approach
• Dark Matter profiles of "in silico" galaxies: deep learning inference