The RAVE survey: constraining the local Galactic escape speed

Accepted........ Received.......; in original form...... We report new constraints on the local escape speed of our Galaxy. Our analysis is based on a sample of high velocity stars from the RAVE survey and two previously published datasets. We use cosmological simulations of disk galaxy formation to motivate our assumptions on the shape of the velocity distribution, allowing for a significantly more precise measurement of the escape velocity compared to previous studies. We find that the escape velocity lies within the range 498 km s −1 < vesc<608 km s −1 (90 per cent confidence), with a median likelihood

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0508996
• JH
  Johns Hopkins University
• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
• NO
  Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
• JA
  Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS
• IN
  Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• SA
  Science and Technology Facilities Council

  Awards: PP/E00119X/1, PP/E001068/1, PP/E00105X/1