The Outer Galactic Halo As Probed By RR Lyr Stars From the Palomar Transient Facility + Keck

Abstract

We present initial results from our study of the outer halo of the Milky Way using a large sample of RR Lyr(ab) variables datamined from the archives of the Palomar Transient Facility. Of the 464 RR Lyr in our sample with distances exceeding 50 kpc, 62 have been observed spectroscopically at the Keck Observatory. v _r and σ(v_r) are given as a function of distance between 50 and 110 kpc, and a very preliminary rather low total mass for the Milky Way out to 110 kpc of ~7 ± 1.5 × 10^(11) M⊙ is derived from our data.

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