Fourth Moments and the Dynamics of Spherical Systems
Abstract
An investigation of the fourth moment of velocity data from the globular cluster Omega Cen demonstrates that useful constraints can be obtained from a dataset of only 300 velocities. The fourth moment of this sample is shown to be inconsistent with an isotropic velocity distribution and suggests that the orbits become predominantly radial at large radii. A more complete analysis of this and other systems awaits larger and more homogeneous samples.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 1990
- DOI:
- 10.1086/115438
- Bibcode:
- 1990AJ.....99.1548M
- Keywords:
-
- Computational Astrophysics;
- Dynamic Models;
- Globular Clusters;
- Line Of Sight;
- Mass Distribution;
- Mass To Light Ratios;
- Velocity Distribution;
- Astrophysics;
- STARS: STELLAR DYNAMICS