Indications of an Unmodelled Component in Spectrographic Measurements of Local Stars

Abstract

Context: While CDM models and MOND give explanations for flat rotation curves of other galaxies, both present observational problems and the local gradient of the Milky Way's rotation curve is not flat. Aims: We consider whether flat rotation curves could be an artifact of an unmodelled component in spectral shift. Methods: In the absence of astrometric determinations of radial velocity, we apply a statistical test on a population of 20 440 Hipparcos stars inside 300 pc with known radial velocities and with accurate parallaxes in the New Hipparcos Reduction. Results: The test rejects the null hypothesis, there is no systematic error in spectrographic determinations of heliocentric radial velocity, with 99.95% confidence. In a separate test on metal-poor stars, we find tension between calculations of the orbital velocity of the Sun from three populations of halo stars inside and outside of a cone of 60° semi-angle from the direction of rotation. Tension cannot be removed with only systematic distance adjustments. Conclusions: We conclude that the most probable explanation is an unmodelled element in spectrographic determinations of heliocentric radial velocity with a probable cosmological origin, and propose that this unmodelled component, rather than CDM or MOND, is responsible for the apparent flatness of galaxy rotation curves.