Radial and azimuthal gradients of the moving groups in Gaia DR3: The slow/fast bar degeneracy problem

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of the central bar of the Milky Way are still under debate whilst being fundamental ingredients for the evolution of our Galaxy. The recent Gaia DR3 offers an unprecedented detailed view of the 6D phase-space of the MW. We aim to characterise the dynamical moving groups across the MW disc, and use their large-scale distribution to help constrain the properties of the Galactic bar. We used wavelet transforms of the azimuthal velocity ($V_ϕ$) distribution in bins of radial velocity to robustly detect the kinematic substructure in the Gaia DR3 catalogue. We then connected these structures across the disc to measure the azimuthal ($ϕ$) and radial ($R$) gradients of the moving groups. We simulated thousands of perturbed distribution functions using Backwards Integration of feasible Galaxy models that include a bar, to compare them with the data and to explore and quantify the degeneracies. The radial gradient of the Hercules moving group ($\partial V_ϕ/\partial R$ = 28.1$\pm$2.8 km$\,$s$^{-1}\,$kpc$^{-1}$) cannot be reproduced by our simple models of the Galaxy which show much larger slopes both for a fast and a slow bar. This suggests the need for more complex dynamics (e.g. spiral arms, a slowing bar, external perturbations, etc.). We measure an azimuthal gradient for Hercules of $\partial V_ϕ/\partial ϕ$ = -0.63$\pm$0.13$\,$km$\,$s$^{-1}$deg$^{-1}$ and find that it is compatible with both the slow and fast bar models. Our analysis points out that using this type of analysis at least two moving groups are needed to start breaking the degeneracies. We conclude that it is not sufficient for a model to replicate the local velocity distribution; it must also capture its larger-scale variations. The accurate quantification of the gradients, especially in the azimuthal direction, will be key for the understanding of the dynamics governing the disc. (ABR)