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Analysis of the Z distribution of young objects in the Galactic thin disk

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Abstract

We have obtained new estimates of the Sun’s distance from the symmetry plane Z ⊙ and the vertical disk scale height h using currently available data on stellar OB associations, Wolf–Rayet stars, HII regions, and Cepheids. Based on individual determinations, we have calculated the mean Z ⊙ = −16 ± 2 pc. Based on the model of a self-gravitating isothermal disk for the density distribution, we have found the following vertical disk scale heights: h = 40.2 ± 2.1 pc from OB associations, h = 47.8 ± 3.9 pc from Wolf–Rayet stars, h = 48.4 ± 2.5 pc from HII regions, and h = 66.2 ± 1.6 pc from Cepheids. We have estimated the surface, Σ = 6 kpc−2, and volume, D(Z ⊙) = 50.6 kpc−3, densities from a sample of OB associations. We have found that there could be ∼5000 OB associations in the Galaxy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pulkovskoe sh. 65, St. Petersburg, 196140, Russia

    V. V. Bobylev & A. T. Bajkova

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  1. V. V. Bobylev
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  2. A. T. Bajkova
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Correspondence to V. V. Bobylev.

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Original Russian Text © V.V. Bobylev, A.T. Bajkova, 2016, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2016, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 3–12.

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Bobylev, V.V., Bajkova, A.T. Analysis of the Z distribution of young objects in the Galactic thin disk. Astron. Lett. 42, 1–9 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773716010023

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