Determining the Scale Length and Height of the Milky Way's Thick Disc Using RR~Lyrae

Abstract

Using the RR Lyrae surveys Gaia DR3 Specific Objects Study, PanSTARRS1 and ASAS-SN-II, we determine the Milky Way's thick disc scale length and scale height as well as the radial scale length of the galaxy's inner halo. We use a Bayesian approach to estimate these values using two independent techniques: Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling, and importance nested sampling. We consider two vertical density profiles for the thick disc. In the exponential model, the scale length of the thick disc is $h_R=2.14_{-0.17}^{+0.19}$ kpc, and its scale height is $h_z=0.64_{-0.06}^{+0.06}$ kpc. In the squared hyperbolic secant profile $sec{h}^2$, those values are correspondingly $h_R=2.10_{-0.17}^{+0.19}$ kpc and $h_z=1.02_{-0.08}^{+0.09}$ kpc. The density distribution of the inner halo can be described as a power law function with the exponent $n=-2.35_{-0.05}^{+0.05}$ and flattening $q=0.57_{-0.02}^{+0.02}$. We also estimate the halo to disc concentration ratio as ${\hat{I}}^3=0.19_{-0.02}^{+0.02}$ for the exponential disc and ${\hat{I}}^3=0.32_{-0.03}^{+0.03}$ for the $sec{h}^2$ disc.

22 pages,13 figures