In order to place this result in context, it is necessary to describe the process whereby the rotation curves are determined for extragalactic systems.įirst, one can assume that the disk is radially supported by the revolution of collisionless stars about the mass lying interior to their radial distance from the galactic center. The M/ L ratio is close to 30, about the same as that found for the Galaxy. The study of the rotation curve of the Andromeda Galaxy, M 31, the nearest spiral galaxy to ours and one which forms a sort of binary system with the Milky Way, shows that the rotation curve is flat to the distance at which the stars are too faint to determine the rotation curve. Shore, Virginia Trimble, in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edition), 2003 IV.B M 31 and the Rotation Curves of External Galaxies
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