Three Dimensional Structure of the Milky Way Disk

Details Three Dimensional Structure of the Milky Way Disk Three Dimensional Structure of the Milky Way Disk

2001-01-16

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0101259v3

Astrophys.J.556:181,2001

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

58 pages, 19 figures, final version after review, accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/321556

We present a three dimensional model for the Milky Way fit to the far-infrared (FIR) and near-infrared (NIR) data from the COBE/DIRBE instrument for Galactic latitudes |b| < 30 degrees and to within 20 degrees of the Galactic center. Because of the low optical depth at 240 microns, the FIR emission traces the distribution of galactic dust in the Galaxy. We model the dust distribution as due to three components: a warped exponential disk with scale length 0.28 R_sun and a flaring scale height, a spiral arm component with four arms as traced by Galactic HII regions, and the local (Orion) arm which produces prominent emission features at galactic longitude l approx. 80 and -100 degrees. A Cosmic Infrared Background of 1.07 MJy/sr is recovered, consistent with previous determinations. The dust distribution is then used to calculate absorption in J and K, and the stellar emission in these wavebands is modeled with two components: a warped exponential disk with a scale length of 0.28 R_sun and a spiral arm component dominated by two arms. This small scale length is consistent with a maximal disk model for our Galaxy, which is inconsistent with the cuspy dark matter halos predicted in CDM models. We find different amplitudes for the warp in the stars and dust, which starts within the Solar Circle.

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