On the mass-to-light ratio of the local Galactic disc and the optical luminosity of the Galaxy

By Chris Flynn, J. Holmberg, L. Portinari, B. Fuchs, H. Jahreiss. 2006

280 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We measure the volume luminosity density and surface luminosity density generated by the Galactic disc, using accurate data on the local luminosity function and the vertical structure of the disc. From the well-measured volume mass density and surface mass density, we derive local volume and surface mass-to-light ratios (MIL) for the Galactic disc, in the bands B, V and I. We obtain M/L for the local column of stellar matter of (M/L) B = 1.4 ± 0.2, (M/L) V = 1.5 ± 0.2 and (M/L) l = 1.2 ± 0.2. The dominant contributors to the surface luminosity in these bands are main-sequence tumoff stars and giants. Our results on the colours and M/L for the 'solar cylinder' well agree with population synthesis predictions using initial mass functions typical of the solar neighbourhood. Finally, we infer the global luminosity of the Milky Way, which appears to be underluminous by about lσ with respect to the main locus of the Tully-Fisher relation, as observed for external galaxies.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6df15c38aec7c3dc16adf34bb38c357c1b9f1b94

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Citations in the corpus

The kinematic connection between galaxies and dark matter haloes (2010, methodology): “This mass is consistent with the mass of 4.8× 1010M⊙ from Klypin, Zhao, & Sommerville (2002) using dynamical models, the 4.85 − 5.5 × 1010M⊙ from Flynn et al. (2006) using dynamical constraints, and 5 × 1010M⊙ from Hammer et al. (2007) using stellar population models and a Kroupa IMF.”
Constraining the Galaxy's dark halo with RAVE stars (2014, background): “With a spherical halo, the total local surface density of the baryonic disc is 37 M pc−2 in excellent agreement with the estimate of Flynn et al. (2006), and the baryons contribute 46 per cent of the radial force on the Sun.”
The SILCC (SImulating the LifeCycle of molecular Clouds) project - II. Dynamical evolution of the supernova-driven ISM and the launching of outflows (2015, methodology): “For our setups we choose a stellar surface density of Σ∗ = 30M pc −2 comparable to the solar neighbourhood (Flynn et al. 2006; Bovy, Rix & Hogg 2012) and a vertical scale height of zd = 100 pc.”
THE MILKY WAY HAS NO DISTINCT THICK DISK (2011, unknown): “This is similar to the estimate of Flynn et al. (2006), who report Σ ∗ R0 = 29 M⊙ pc −2.”
THE SHAPE OF THE INNER MILKY WAY HALO FROM OBSERVATIONS OF THE PAL 5 AND GD–1 STELLAR STREAMS (2016, background): “…in this volume—soon to be mapped in detail by the Gaia satellite (de Bruijne 2012)—that we can determine the Milky Way’s mass and light budget (e.g., Flynn et al. 2006; Bovy & Rix 2013; McKee et al. 2015), the dark–matter halo’s shape and radial profile near and within its scale radius (e.g.,…”
COLOR–MASS-TO-LIGHT-RATIO RELATIONS FOR DISK GALAXIES (2014, methodology): “For the solar cylinder, Flynn et al. (2006) measure B − V = 0.58 and V − I = 0.90 (their Table 5).”
The Auriga Project: the properties and formation mechanisms of disc galaxies across cosmic time (2016, result): “The values of the velocity dispersion in all directions at the solar radius (mean values of σ R ∼ 60 km s−1, σ Z ∼ 50 km s−1) are too high compared to the thin disc of the Milky Way: σ R ∼ 35 km s−1; σ Z ∼ 25 km s−1 (see Bland-Hawthorn & Gerhard 2016, and references therein), although they are simil”
Mass models of the Milky Way (2011, methodology): “…63.9M⊙ pc −2 best-fitting; 62.0±7.6M⊙ pc −2 mean ± standard deviation) is somewhat larger than suggested by studies which count identified matter in the Solar neighbourhood, such as that of Kuijken & Gilmore (1989) who found Σd,⊙ = 48 ± 8M⊙ pc −2, or Flynn et al. (2006) who found Σd,⊙ ∼ 49M⊙ pc −2.”
Galactic stellar haloes in the CDM model (2009, methodology): “This value is sensitive to the assumption that the Milky Way is a typical galaxy, and to the adopted Milky Way stellar mass (5.5 × 1010 M ; Flynn et al. 2006).”
The Dynamical and Chemical Evolution of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with GEAR (2009, methodology): “We converted stellar masses into luminosities by assuming a reasonable stellar Mstars/LV ratio of 0.75 (Flynn et al. 2006).”
Chemical evolution with radial mixing (2008, background): “…Binney (1998) but with the thin- and thick-disc scaleheights taken to be 0.3 and 0.9 kpc, the total stellar surface density set to 35.5 M pc−2 with 3/4 of the stellar mass in the thin disc and the gas surface density set to 13.2 M pc−2 in conformity with Flynn et al. (2006) and Juric et al. (2008).”
Cosmological simulations of the formation of the stellar haloes around disc galaxies (2011, methodology): “The Milky Way has a total stellar mass of M∗ ≈ 5.5 × 10 10M⊙ (Flynn et al. 2006)5 and vrot = 250 km/s (Reid et al. 2009).”
The Milky Way’s stellar disk (2013, background): “…the overall structural parameters of the Milky Way are compiled in Table 1.2 of Binney & Tremaine (2008); more specifically estimates for the mass of the Disk are ≃5× 1010 M⊙ (Flynn et al. 2006; McMillan 2011), though the most recent data sets have not yet been brought to bear on this basic number.”
How do galaxies populate dark matter haloes (2009, result): “For the Milky Way, the recent stellar mass estimate of Flynn et al. (2006) is quite similar to the old value of ∼ 6×1010M⊙ found by 1980’s models of Galactic structure.”
Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND): Observational Phenomenology and Relativistic Extensions (2011, methodology): “76 6.6.1 Elliptical galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 6.6.2 Dwarf spheroidal galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 6.6.3 Star clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 6.6.4 Galaxy group”
The dynamics of stars around spiral arms (2011, methodology): “These parameters lead to a stellar surface density of Σ = 37 M⊙ pc −2 at 8 kpc, which is similar to Σ = 35.5 M⊙ pc −2 obtained for disc stars in the solar neighbourhood (Flynn et al. 2006).”
ON THE LACK OF EVOLUTION IN GALAXY STAR FORMATION EFFICIENCY (2012, background): “This same narrow range of halo and stellar masses (which includes the stellar and halo mass of the Milky Way; Klypin et al. 2002; Flynn et al. 2006; Smith et al. 2007; Busha et al. 2011) is responsible for most star formation since at least z = 4, due to the constancy of the star formation…”
A DIRECT DYNAMICAL MEASUREMENT OF THE MILKY WAY'S DISK SURFACE DENSITY PROFILE, DISK SCALE LENGTH, AND DARK MATTER PROFILE AT 4 kpc ≲ R ≲ 9 kpc (2013, methodology): “A main source of systematic uncertainty in Flynn et al. (2006) was the uncertainty in the value of the radial scale length, which a priori could have been anywhere between 2 kpc and 5 kpc.”
Distribution functions for the Milky Way (2009, background): “Flynn et al. (2006) estimate the absolute I-band luminosity of the Galaxy to be MI = −22.3.”
The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic, and Integrated Properties (2016, background): “The latter find strong support with the dynamically determined I-band values (M I = −22.4, ϒ I = 1.4) from Piffl et al. (2014a) and (M I = −22.5, ϒ I = 1.3) from Bovy & Rix (2013), and are in close agreement with Flynn et al. (2006).”