Bibcode
Hammersley, P. L.; Garzon, F.; Mahoney, T.; Calbet, X.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 273, Issue 1, pp. 206-214.
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3
1995
Citations
56
Refereed citations
53
Description
With the use of data from COBE, IRAS and the Two-micron Galactic Survey
(TMGS), we examine the effect on star counts and surface brightness maps
of the position of the Sun above the Galactic plane and of a possible
tilt between the b=0 deg plane and the plane of the old disc (to a
distance of 3 or 4 kpc from the Sun). We find that the Sun is 15.5+/-3
pc above the plane, and that b=0 deg is tilted by 0 deg.40+/-0 deg.03.
These results lead to errors of up to 20 per cent when comparing the
flux at the same absolute latitude above and below the plane, and should
be taken into account when comparing models with measurements. We find
that the plane of the local disc is flat to within the errors and that a
large part of the effects previously attributed to the warp could be
explained by the tilt alone. This result indicates that the plane of the
local old disc is tilted with respect to the average H I or stellar disc
of the inner Galaxy (R<7 kpc), suggesting that the old disc itself is
corrugated.