Milky Way Rotation: Deviations from Circular Motion and the

谢克特博士将获得造父变星的观测数据 和碳星来确定我们的 银河 在这两种情况下，测光将产生到恒星的距离 而光谱学将产生速度。 的数据 造父变星也将被用来确定与太阳的距离 我们银河系的中心 事实证明，很难确定以下因素的相对贡献： 一个圆盘，一个凸起，和暗物质的星系的总质量。 更好地理解黑暗和黑暗的相对重要性， 星系中的发光物质是理解 星系的形成和演化 在银河系中， 特定示踪剂的位置和速度的所有三个分量 质量。 我们对银河系质量分布的了解， 然后应用于了解其他星系的结构。 谢克特博士的研究解决了两个基本问题 在星系结构中--轨道的非-- 在我们银河系中距离太阳的圆形， 太阳到银河系中心的距离

Dr. Schechter will obtain observations of Cepheid variable stars and carbon stars to determine the shape of the potential of our Galaxy. In both cases photometry will yield distances to the stars while spectroscopy will yield velocities. The data from the Cepheids will also be used to determine the distance from the Sun to the center of our Galaxy. It has proven difficult to determine the relative contributions of a disk, a bulge, and dark matter to the total masses of galaxies. A better understanding of the relative importance of dark and luminous matter in a galaxy is a prerequisite to understanding how galaxies form and evolve. In the Milky Way galaxy one can measure all three components of position and velocity for specific tracers of mass. Our knowledge of the mass distribution in our Galaxy can then be applied to understanding the structure of other galaxies. Dr. Schechter's research addresses two of the fundamental problems in galactic structure -- the degree to which orbits are non- circular at the distance of the Sun in our Galaxy and the distance of the Sun to the center of our Galaxy.